L’Observateur / April 26, 2000

DEAR EDITOR: I have had occasion to deal with the St. John Humane Society and Heidi Hogan,and I found the place though poor in funds and situation rich in love and compassion. In reading between the lines in a recent newspaper article aboutthe incident whereby the Humane Society was fired by the St. John ParishCouncil and Mrs. Hogan vilified, I sense it had a lot less to do with inefficiencyat the shelter than a bunch of bureaucratic council persons infuriated that their overinflated views of their own importance were miffed. Perhaps theywere just in a foul mood when they visited the shelter because they were not afforded chauffeured limos and a parish police escort.

At any rate, no matter whatever squabble was gotten into over policy that led to it, the recent exhibition of crude behavior on the council’s part was both vindictive and puerile to an astonishing degree.

Mr. Richard “Dale” Wolfe revealed much more about his own self than aboutMrs. Hogan with his televised jingle “Miss Heidi, Miss Tidy, Miss Any-Didy”. Iread this outburst with a sense of both disbelief and resignation. Suchchurlish name-calling at a fifth-grade recess would call for an admonishment for the child to stop acting like a kindergarten pupil. Coming from acouncilmember, however, it gives one cause to wonder when the Council will start handing out “Mouseketeer” ears before beginning each session. Nowonder the St. John Parish Council is the laughingstock of all surroundingparishes, with its members thrust to the pinnacles of power and more prone to petty internecine backbiting over power and turf than true effective representational government.

Perhaps Mr. Richard “Dale” Wolfe would like to lead this parish by way ofexample and donate his councilman’s salary for all the “dumb” (as described by another of the councilmen) animals once the bureaucracy of government creaks over to take over the shelter, and, I fear, turn the operation into a real Auschwitz.

Frankly the adjective “dumb” would be far more accurately placed on the members of the council than on our fellow creatures of God, the animals which are the castoffs of a society that is oftentimes less worthy of God’s love than the creatures it euthanizes. Such a pretty soothing dance aroundthe word “kills.” Let’s all go to church on Sunday for an hour and feel good about ourselves!

Carey Phillips

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