The demolition of my former home, that I was forced to arrange by Marksville, was partially initiated today. I wasn't there at the time, but I know that some of the 10 or less cats I had been feeding on the property have now fled, more than likely, due to the horrible noise and sound of destruction that they were subjected to. I cannot begin to use mere words to relay the cavernous waves of depression, sadness, and horror that I am now experiencing in knowing that my cats are now homeless and are forced to wander the streets where they will eventually starve to death.

The United States of America is a place where there exists a barren attitude toward the lives of its stray animals. Most people have more respect and concern in caring for their household plants than for the thousands, perhaps millions of stray animals that are born daily and destroyed insouciantly. I will never get over the mourning period that I have been going through since my house burned in 2009 and my cats began mysteriously disappearing. If ever there had been humane programs in existence in Avoyelles parish for strays, I would have most definitely taken advantage of them. But Avoyelles Parish, just as so many communties throughout this country have no real compassion or feeling for the many stray animals that roam their streets.

Their solution is only to kill, kill, kill, and kill again. It was never in my heart to let a stray animal go hungry, and I never did. I cannot believe that this country is so callous as to rob its citizens of the ability to govern the decisions that homeowners make regarding the places in which they reside. I am horrified by laws which allow local governments in the United States to come in and use dictatorial mechanisms to force homeowners to make decisions about their domiciles against their wishes. This is not the land of the free and the home of the brave-at least not as far as I am concerned. Also, I recently found out, that although the property taxes on my home have been faithfully paid as long as I can remember, because my home is valued at less than $76,000, I should never have been made to pay property taxes in the first place. I have never been patriotic about the United States.

I always knew that this country was not what it has described itself to be. I feel so upset in knowing that the cats I had grown so fond of, will be street cats now and starvation doesn't come quickly. Unless, you are a person with money, power, and prestige in this country, then, in my opinion you can kiss any freedom you have been promised goodbye.. I am horribly disappointed, not only in the local government of Marksville, but in the government of the United States of America.

I know my time and words will be wasted in writing this letter, because the previous three letters I have written to the editor of this paper(Weekly News) have gone unprinted. Maybe I just needed to write about this terrible tragedy as some type of cathartic mechanism. It isn't helping.

Rosemary Gremillion