I am glad to hear about the reader who rescued the puppy from the idiot. There are so many people out there that have no respect for animals. Licenses should be required to own one. San Diego movers

Last week, after I left my favorite restaurant, I discovered a cardboard box with a sign, "Free dogs", in front of the door. There were two puppies in the box, no water, no owner. A man quickly picked up one of the puppies and walked off. I picked up the remaining puppy who was lethargic and whose stomach was distended. The puppy promptly eliminated as it had violent diarrhea. Caused by my calls for water and my questions about the owner, he showed up. I tried to convince him that it was unwise to leave a box with puppies for anyone to pick up. I also talked to him about the necessity to make sure that the puppies go to homes where they are well cared for. I asked him if he had contacted the SPCA or the good people of our Animal Control Office. He had not. I pointed out to him that the puppy is sickly, had diarrhea, and needed to see a vet. He responded that the puppy ate Chinese food and thus had diarrhea. When I told him that puppies need puppy food, he responded that his 8 dogs get Chinese food and cheese, then have diarrhea, "no problem." As we were both getting louder and as I realized that there was no convincing this man of providing adequate care for his dogs, I grabbed the puppy and left. The puppy was immediately taken to the vet who diagnosed that she suffered from roundworms. She was given shots and then received a special diet for the next few days. Within hours her lethargy decreased and she started to perk up. She was adopted by a lovely family who loves her. Thank you, Sarah and Miles. My point: Please, do not give away puppies in front of stores or restaurants. Puppies and kittens are cute and people might impulsively pick up an animal without considering the expense, time, long-term commitment it takes to care for such an animal. For those who read my letter to the editor about the puppy I picked up on Halloween on Highway 49: After I got him neutered, immunized, trained, he became the Christmas gift for a 10 year old boy. He is much loved by the whole family. Thank you, Myia and Rico.

These last few days have been warmer, but how many of us have sick children? I recently received a complaint from my younger children that there class rooms are cold. Only to be followed by a not home by a kindergarten teacher that their class room is between 33-48 degrees until after lunch when the heater finally gets to kick on and heats the room to 68 degrees. This was during our last bit of snow. I contacted the principal and the district office only to be told that they would look it to it and that they were unaware. That was last week. This week the kids are still complaining that the rooms are cold, and my oldest stated that they had an assembly to let the kids know how broke the school is and that that is why the heaters are on timers and are kept turned down. Now my kindergartner is in a class of about 20, and I was told that I was the only parent who complained about the note, Why is that? And why is the school getting away with this. I have personally walked into the office at 8am and felt the need to take off my coat because its so warm, but the kids are freezing? If the children went to school and complained that they were cold at home because their family didn't turn on the heat, you can bet that there would be an investigation through CPS as to why and being broke would not be a good enough excuse to keep the children in that home. As a result of the cold classrooms my children all have colds, and yet I am supposed to keep sending my children so that the school can get paid and we don't end up in truancy court. Something needs to be done to address this situation, and one parent unfortunately is not enough.