Hawks and owls, pot businesses, and therapy dogs

Hawks are just being good parents

I have studied red-tailed hawks and great horned owls at Bethpage State Park for more than 20 years ["Hawk havoc," Our Towns, April 14]. As we approach Earth Day on Friday, I am no stranger to nesting female hawks sending me screaming aerial messages when defending their nests and young -- that is what they should be doing. We normally applaud good parenting, and we should appreciate it and respect it as well here. We do not own this planet, and really should enjoy wild creatures finding and making their homes on this human-crowded island. There are simple procedures that we mammals can easily follow so hawk and human can coexist. I think it would do all of us some good to consider the words of writer and naturalist Henry Beston:

"We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals . . . For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are . . . fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth.”

Jim Jones, Bayville

The writer is staff naturalist at Bethpage State Park.

A reader bemoaned that, because of the proximity of nesting eagles, people cannot build on certain properties ["Really? This objection is truly for the birds," Letters, April 10]. He writes, "People are more important than birds." I was unsure which people he was talking about. Maybe the ones who hunted or trapped the eagles to near extinction. Or the ones whose use of DDT pesticide poisoned them to near extinction. Birds have been around for at least 60 million years, surviving extinction. For them to now find themselves and other wildlife on the precipice of extinction due to habitat loss, thanks to civilized man, I would think our objective should be preservation of wildlife. I wonder how civilized we really are.

Dan Cignoli, Coram

The writer is a longtime member of more than 20 environmental groups. He has a sign by his backyard certifying it as a wildlife habitat.

Pot business owners need level field

The federal SAFE Banking Act will give Long Island cannabis entrepreneurs an equal chance of starting a new business that often requires capital beyond what new business owners can supply. Yet, despite operating fully legal businesses, cannabis entrepreneurs are routinely denied access to basic capital and other banking services that other industries receive ["Laying out pros, cons of marijuana," News, April 4].

Many financial institutions fear doing business with cannabis business owners because of inconsistencies between state and federal laws, causing business owners to be denied something as basic as a checking account or debit card. This inequity can extend to workers in the cannabis industry, as well.

This lack of access does not impact all cannabis businesses equally. Compared with large, multistate corporations that have access to private equity, small, local businesses are at a disadvantage -- making it more likely that Long Island’s industry will be taken over by out-of-state companies.

The SAFE Banking Act will ensure that every legally operating cannabis business has equal access to capital and banking services, providing local entrepreneurs an opportunity to build thriving businesses. Long Island entrepreneurs deserve the opportunity to benefit from cannabis legalization in New York. We urge Congress to pass the SAFE Banking Act. 

Lisa Tyson, Massapequa

The writer is director of the Long Island Progressive Coalition.

Therapy dog group helps at no cost

I read with interest “It’s always safety first,” especially the part focusing on Therapy Dogs of Long Island [exploreLI, April 6]. Although Terry Gallogly’s entrepreneurship is commendable, it should be noted that Therapy Dogs International has dogs and handlers, however, who provide these services at no cost. Before admission, the team must pass a certification test. Each year, these volunteers must renew their certification and have the dogs checked by a veterinarian. My husband and I, along with our Golden Retrievers, were members of the group for 14 years. We visited nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and private residences. Other volunteers visit hospices, hospitals, libraries, schools and other places that request therapy dogs. The impact that these visits have on everyone is indeed powerful.

Carol Thomas, Holtsville