Editor,

I read your article on the recent rooster addition to Langley and felt very disappointed in the light tone of the article and important opportunities missed.

I am pretty sure that dumping your unwanted pets is illegal, but more than that it is a cowardly act and morally wrong.

These animals are beautiful, smart, curious, loyal, and highly entertaining, and I am sure that some residents were amused by their presence. But they were chased and stressed throughout the week, and had to find food, shelter and escape cars and predators. That is not so cute.

The lighthearted tone of your article worries me; it sounds like Langley embraces and will embrace whatever pets get dumped there as part of its quirky and quaint charm. This is a dangerous path to start down; you don’t want to give anyone a green light to this behavior. The rabbit issue has become a very complicated matter to solve, and people have added to the problem with new breeds evidently added.

Whidbey has a problem with dumping unwanted animals. Our pet family has included a dog, cats, roosters, rabbits, and even a goose — every one of them abandoned on this island.

This issue needs to be addressed. It isn’t cute or quaint or a laughing matter.

As beautiful as the roosters looked in Langley, I could only feel sad for their stress, and worry for continued acts like this in the future. I would have liked to have seen that addressed more in your article.

SHARON MILLER

Langley