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concerning a Statehouse News Bureau report on otters in Ohio:

In the report a representative of the humane society of the United States … says that the traps used to capture otter are cruel.

In the interest of fairness and accurate reporting, especially regarding a subject of which the vast majority has no experience or knowledge, I want to point out that the very traps the humane society decries as cruel were successfully used by trappers to capture 125 otter for relocation to Ohio. This humane resettlement program has resulted in a significant increase in Ohio's otter population.

Airing the quote without questioning its version of events is poor journalism and an affront to the people of Ohio. It rather reminds me of CBS and Dan Rather using unverified documents in their story on President Bush's National Guard service.

The News Department might want to do an in-depth report on the Humane Society and where they spend their millions of dollars. More importantly, you should look at where they don't spend any funds -- which is on the animals themselves. Instead, they devote their resources to strengthen a quasi-religion that rails against hunting, trapping and animal farming in any and all forms, and that openly condones terrorism in order to eliminate the use of animals in medical research. Quoting the humane society as an "expert" perspective on wildlife management is tantamount to supporting their elitist political agenda and promoting their illegal and immoral tactics.

--Jerome J. Heimbrock, Jr.