We welcome your opinions and letters – with name and address. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, 1629 Forest Drive, Annapolis, MD 21403 •E-mail them to [email protected]. or submit your letters on-line by clicking here.

The Fogle Household

Dear Bay Weekly:

Loved reading “The Life of Mr. Boy” (Jan. 14). I enclose a page from the book My Cat Saved My Life and pictures of the Fogle household of cats. Charles The First, a Katrina refugee three years old, is a sweet, lovable, friendly lap-sitter who loves us. Chatsworth, 10 years old, was born on the boat of a Back Creek liveaboard. His mother, boat matriarch, didn’t want him and tried, I’m told, to push him overboard. So I look him. Regal, aloof, independent, he tolerates us.

–David Porter Fogle, Eastport

Emergency Safety for Animal Companions

Dear Bay Weekly:

In the wake of the major snowstorm that buried much of the Mid-Atlantic region under more than two feet of snow and left thousands of people without power, PETA urges emergency shelters to allow people to bring their animal companions with them. As the brave people who stayed behind after Hurricane Katrina rather than evacuate without their animals showed, many people would rather risk their lives than leave their animals to face uncertain fates.

Animals aren’t any better equipped to survive a disaster than humans are, and domesticated animals left behind in an emergency may be stranded in dangerous conditions for days or weeks without food or water if conditions prevent their guardians from returning to care for them.

Our animals depend on us. Please visit www.HelpingAnimals.com for tips on how to keep your animal companions safe during emergencies.

–Lindsay Pollard-Post: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Norfolk, VA

Muskegon Middle Schooler Wants to Hear from You

Dear Bay Weekly:

Hello, my name is Calli. I have dark hair and brown eyes. I like to go hang out with my friends, shopping, playing on the computer and listening to music. Every Friday night I like to go to the movies. When I hang out with my friends, I like to talk about what movies I would like to see and which ones are my favorites. I do not like school, homework and my sisters when they are being mean.

I live with my dad, mom and my two older sisters in Muskegon, Michigan. Our city is right on the shore of Lake Michigan. During the summer Michigan Adventures is open, and that basically is an amusement park. It has a water park and a separate one with roller coasters and things like that. I am an eighth grader at Orchard View Middle School. We have about 650 kids in this school.

I am writing you to request you to put my letter in your newspaper. I am hoping to learn more about your town so if one day I come and visit I will know more about you guys. I am hoping that I will get a few responses from your readers. I am also hoping that people from your town will send me magnets and things like that.

In my Language Arts class, we are all writing letters to different locations. We will keep track of our responses on a huge map we have hanging up in our classroom.

This is my first time writing a letter to a newspaper. I would like to thank you in advance for putting my letter in your newspaper.