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October 12th, 2008
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July 2nd, 2008 issue

Dog days

The government needs an “educational effect” as much as irresponsible dog owners do (“Bill calls for all dogs to be leashed,” News, June 18–24).
Punishing the majority of responsible owners won’t accomplish a whole lot, other than padding the coffers. The cruelest thing I could do to my dog is tie her up on her leash and walk away. No law broken, eh?
Czechs are very canine-friendly.
There’s a lot of public tolerance, and children learn respect toward dogs, not fear. This is a good thing. Some people fear dogs, and there are some dogs to fear, but both of these groups are relatively small here, thankfully. Fear-based legislation is not a good move — it’s so … American.
The proposed law, as described in this article, is severe and badly conceived. Dogs can be restricted to leashes in urban parks where there are designated areas for them to run free. I’ll be the first in line at such a park. But my 4-year-old dog will have lived out her natural life before I can expect one in our neighborhood. So, until then, I’ll be a criminal in the wild, tossing the Frisbee and glancing over my shoulder, waiting to be “educated.”
Elizabeth Fialova
Prague
If you are a dog living in a small flat in Prague, your only chance to run around is for a few minutes in the park (“On curbing drinking, gambling and dogs,” Opinion, June 18-24).
Would you take away this one daily pleasure — for maybe 3 million or 4 million animals — just so that some kid doesn’t get bitten?
I’d say 95 percent of these animals are too small to do any harm, and those few which aren’t can easily be required to wear a muzzle.
But I understand — you are coming from a country where the “rights” of a piece of discarded fetal tissue are debated ad nauseum in your media, while the genuine needs of intelligent creatures such as chimpanzees to not be tortured or held in tiny cages is “below the radar.”
You are coming from a country where the government condones torture.
We don’t want your police-state values in our safe, pleasant European country. And most of all, we don’t want your arrogant advice.
Andrea Cernova
Prague
Curbs on homeless
Over-legislating is a problem that people face in the Western world (“On curbing drinking, gambling and dogs,” Opinion, June 18–24).
Homeless people drinking in the streets are not going to have a sudden epiphany and stop drinking — they will move elsewhere.
When drug junkies used to hang out in the main train station, the police started checking their documents and silently forced them out of the train station. Now they hang out in front of the National Museum and the adjacent areas.
Alfonz Sis
Prague


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Reader's comments:

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[18:26 07/07/2008] : Dear Sir/Madam

I have been working here for over three months now, teaching English to Czech and international businesses in Prague. Previously, I taught English at an elementary school in Incheon, South Korea.

Similar in both societies, is the high relatively level of literacy, and respect for educational, academic and cultural attainment.

However in terms of technology, there is a great difference. Incheon's metro was technologically sophisticated; cellphones in South Korea can perform many different functions besides calls (dictionaries, watching movies, wireless internet etc).

In Prague's Metro, there is little electronic information available on station platforms; the escalators are old and hazardous. Electronic doors on trams, trains and shopping centres don't open and close very well. Cash takes comparitively longer to transfer electronically.

If Prague is to attract business and investment, I think the city's authorities must address the gap in the capital's amenities,

Yours faithfully,

Shouvik Datta.
Shouvik Datta
Prague
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