Dear Editor,
My husband, Sam Omelaniec, was born in Aldergrove in 1938. His parents came from what is now Belarus.
For the past 37 years Sam and I have been uniformed solders in the Salvation Army, and he each Sunday we take donated foods to the Gateway of Hope in Langley. I was on the board with Gary Johnson who got the facility built.
Sam loves dogs, and he befriended a street person and his dog Emitu (every molecule in the universe). Last Sunday we were told that Emitu was in the pound on 56th Avenue.
On Monday Sam went to visit Emitu to take him some treats and give him some TLC, only to be told that he wasn't allowed to see the dog – even after Sam identified Emitu as staff had no idea what the dog was called. Staff said these are the rules.
Sam's parents fled the socialistic scofflaws and their sinister intent to come to Canada – thankfully they have not lived to see what they were fleeing from – the same freedom of rights being ever so cleverly removed from our everyday lifestyles.
What is wrong giving a scared dog a hug and some milk bones? I guess the bureaucrats needed Sam's security clearance and perhaps a fingerprint to prove to that he actually cared for Emitu. What is sad we are led to believe that the dog's welfare in these facilities is their utmost concern – obviously not.
Pam Omelaniec, Langley
