Pets
first, children second
There
is an urgent need to educate the parents
of children who use the community‑owned
baseball fields in Anthem. Their concerns
are undermining Anthem Pets, Inc’s movement
to get free, donated land from Anthem
community‑owned assets for an animal
park.
These
parents will not allow their children
to play on Softball Field #2 for a variety
of reasons. While it is true the interim
animal park was initially designated,
designed and constructed for baseball,
these parents need to accept change and
share this facility with animals.
It
is true that Softball Field #2 is the
only locked baseball field in Anthem with
a privately owned padlock on it. But when
these sports parents claim it is easier
to enter our country illegally than to
get on a baseball field, they are inappropriately
using inflammatory rhetoric to elicit
responses. These sport parents use the
guise of concern and responsibility to
take insubstantial shots at Anthem Pets,
Inc. Unfounded claims of potential health
risks to young children sharing that facility
are meaningless without statistical verification
that the field is dangerous. These sport
parents need to start putting their children
on Softball Field #2 to
substantiate their claims, for without
sick children, their claims are without
merit.
Furthermore,
how do they expect their children to acclimate
to the peculiar odor around the facility
unless they spend time there? Anthem Pets,
Inc. needs to reeducate these misinformed
sport parents. I recommend a “Lead By
Example” fundraiser. Instead of a dinner
in the
friendly confines of the country club,
have a twilight picnic in the grass. Anthem
Pets, Inc.
members
can use Softball Field #2, the interim
animal park. They won’t need a blanket
because the
dead brown grass is safe. Sit, recline,
eat and drink under a beautiful Arizona
twilight sky.
This
will dispel any non‑facts, concerns
or rumors widely held by some overly cautious
sport parents. They will then know it
is safe for their precious children to
roll in the “grass” and enjoy a juice
box or between‑inning snack. Anthem
Pets, Inc. needs to set these people straight.
Sample
announcement: Members Only–Anthem Pets,
Inc. “Lead by Example” Community Re‑education
Fundraiser, “Twilight in the Grass Picnic.”
Place: Softball Field #2. Time:
Whenever
you dare.
I’ll
watch from outside the locked gate!
Ed
Barans
Anthem
