Those who take responsibility

To the editor: In this political year we hear a lot of talk about what role the government should or should not play in our every day affairs and just exactly where and when we the people need to take responsibility for our own quality of life. Well a situation occurred recently in our neck of the woods that helped put this in a clearer perspective for us. Attending to what we usually do on our Sunday afternoons did not stop us from noticing that we had yet another visitor to the wooded area behind our home. We often have deer, stray cats and the occasional predator forage for food in the woods that surround us. However, what we saw this time stunned us?an adult peacock was strutting its stuff in all its glory just a few feet from our deck. Knowing that peacocks aren’t native to the area and judging from its interactions with, not only us but also our neighbors and their cat, we assumed that it must’ve recently escaped from it owner whomsoever that could’ve been. We immediately started calling the agencies we thought might assist return this bird to a safe environment. The police department and our own community security offered little in the way of help, and in reality what could they do really? Then we called the Pike County Humane Society, but by then their office had closed for the day. So we left a message on the answering machine explaining our dilemma and the peacock’s plight. We made other calls but only “Barry” from the Humane Society returned our call early the next morning. We told him that by then, there was nothing to be done because the peacock had vanished; we feared the worst. We agreed that even if the peacock had survived the night, it was still in a very precarious position if it wandered these hills much longer. We hung up the phone feeling very frustrated and realizing how few avenues were open to us in this misadventure. Late that same afternoon, however the peacock returned seeking food and shelter on our neighbor’s porch. We were determined to put an end to this one way or another, knowing from experience that chasing the bird through the woods with a blanket, trying to cast it over the bird, as we had done the day before, wasn’t really a very good idea to begin with. So, we decided to coax the peacock into our basement by leaving a trail of breadcrumbs. Once we got over our amazement that this ploy actually worked, we once again called the Pike County Humane Society. Even though it was after its closing time, we found “Barry” who was still taking calls. Once we explained that indeed we had secured the peacock in our basement but that our three dogs were not very content with the situation, Barry told us to give him some traveling time and that he needed to communicate with a gentleman who had a farm in Greentown, who might be willing to take the peacock. He called to let us know that although the gentleman farmer had his family visiting from N.J., he (Barry and the man) would pick up the bird that evening before 10 p.m. Within two hours, the beautiful peacock was on its way to a safe haven, unharmed thanks to the Pike County Humane Society. The Pike County Humane Society provides a vital service to the residents of northeastern Pennsylvania. We believe that this agency has not received the recognition or the funding that it deserves. Surely there must be others who feel as we do. Please voice your concern for the future of this agency to your elected officials. Donate what you can. In fact, if every family in Pike County donated just one dollar a year, the Humane Society could focus more on protecting our wildlife and our household pets and less on its survival as a viable agency. John & Elizabeth Willaum Lackawaxen