A Valentine's Wish for Everyone, Especially Lauderdale County

If we could give our leaders any gift this Valentine's Day, it would be to place a little more love in their hearts...and to put it poetically, not so much love in other parts. Anyone heard from Bobby and Becky recently?

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It hasn't been all that long ago that Michelle Obama took flak for stating she hadn't always been proud of her country. Today, we're publicly stating we're not particularly proud of our county at this moment.

After the Lauderdale County Commission meeting Monday night, a member was overheard saying the current policy on animal confiscations would not be changed. Why? It seems they don't think sole animal control officer Dwayne Oliver is capable of handling a gun and officers who confiscate property should be armed.

Send Oliver to be trained? Ah, here's the kicker: They don't think he's worth it. We hope Oliver is reading this. We hope he resigns and the commission is forced to hire someone certified in weapons. Voila! Problem solved.

We're pretty much in favor of voting out any commissioners who refuse to vote to change this law. How about you, Lauderdale County voters?

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Lest you think the commission is the only entity in Lauderdale County that doesn't care about animal welfare, look no farther than circuit court. We all know that just saying something doesn't make it so; a career criminal who says his cousin helps spring him from jail is probably blowing smoke (Gerald Surratt's grandmother and Judge Ben Graves' grandfather were siblings). 

So, no, we don't blame Graves for any accident of birth. What we do blame him for is returning animals to abusive owners. We've been sent a list of cases where Graves has done just that. What have the owners done? They've continued their abusive behavior, and nothing has changed. 

Abusive individuals are just that...abusive to animals, spouses, and children alike. We may not be able to put an end to it, but we can put a dent in it. Let's elect those who walk the walk, shall we?