CAT PROTECTION REGULATION
Good news for animal welfare
For the article “Castration is compulsory” in the Badische Zeitung on Wednesday, April 14th, we received the following reader’s letter:
Finally some good news for animal welfare: Free-roaming cats / tomcats have to be neutered in Breisach – thanks to the decision of the local council. Animal rights activists have been pointing out for years that the castration obligation is the only way to reduce cat misery and uncontrolled reproduction. It is time for the city of Freiburg – like numerous cities and municipalities in Germany – to finally issue the cat protection ordinance, because there is cat misery in Freiburg too! Birgit Strittmatter, Freiburg
MARKETPLACE IN BREISACH
Trees would have been great and useful
To the article “No new trees for the market place”, BZ from Wednesday, April 7th:
You have to agree with Mayor Rein: Everyone who is sensible, everyone who feels climate change, everyone who has heard something about the microclimate in the cities, wants to plant larger trees in the city, whole avenues would be really great and useful. Only at the market square was it screwed up earlier. “Due to the subsoil”, trees were not used in the planning of the new market square; it should also be kept free for larger events.
Should the whole city sweat because of two or three events that took place on Heinrich-Ulmann-Platz during the construction phase, or that could be relocated to another location? Climate change with hot, dry summers doesn’t give a shit about arguments like that. Creative ideas would be needed to make trees, root barriers, buckets in the ground possible. Only trees make ecologically meaningful changes in the microclimate possible. But we have water fountains. Will the marketplace be artificially irrigated during hot, dry periods when car washing and lawn sprinkling are banned?
The crown of a tree and its root ball are in a ratio of 1: 1 to 1: 6 to each other. So buckets that really hold trees that provide shade would have to be around three meters in diameter. A few buckets would be needed to achieve adequate shade. It’ll get pretty full. There is nothing wrong with a tree in Niederrimsingen or in a building area, but the shadow will probably not extend to the market square. Martin Kalchthaler, Breisach
CLIMATE POLICY
Refrain from having your own car and not flying
On “Carbon dioxide saved and a prize won” and Rheingeflüster from April 17th:
The fact that the city of Breisach announced a competition to save CO2 in autumn is very welcome. And also that Gerold Zink took up the topic in a larger commentary in order to make people aware of the problem of the climate crisis and in relation to their everyday lives. Very few realize that everything has its effects on the climate, for better or for worse. What people also don’t realize is the urgency of the problem: Every year Germany would have to save 6 to 7 percent of its CO2 emissions if it were to seriously contribute to preventing the disaster. It is obvious that this can only be achieved if everyone participates.
Everyone can judge for themselves whether what was named as exemplary savings measures in the competition is sufficient. I believe that other, bigger steps are needed. You just go into the woods around Breisach to see what’s going on.
There are three basic things that anyone can do against the threat of development; Austrian scientists put it together once: Do not own a car, do not fly and eat a regional, seasonally-oriented and predominantly vegetarian diet. With around 25 percent of people in retirement, quite a few should be able to do without their own car. Public transport and car sharing are available for mobility. You could also buy shares in a wind or photovoltaic system or install modules on your roof. The next savings competition should primarily take these aspects into account. Doesn’t everyone want to look at each other in the mirror in the morning and still be able to answer the grandson’s question about how to behave in the crisis?
We live in a democracy and politicians only react when they have the feeling that at least a larger part of the population is ready to go along with it. She then judges that primarily on the basis of the current behavior of the people. You want to be re-elected. And what is she seeing at the moment?
Gerd Müller, Breisach
HELIOS ROSMANN CLINIC
No solution for critical personnel situation
To the article “Will the clinic become German-French?” from Saturday, April 3rd:
Can a dream come true No, not the Franco-German hospital in Breisach, because there were far too many ifs and buts here at the municipal council meeting on March 30th. Mayor Rein is president of the new working group on health in the newly founded Eurodistrict, but it is first of all a working group. A model project within the framework of the Aachen contract could clarify the questions of the different accounting systems. Terms such as hope, working group, deliberation and confidence are unfortunately not enough to dispel concerns about emergency care and the preservation of the hospital.
Rather, the choice of words indicates a long-term goal, a future project that should also be pursued on the side.
Unfortunately, the Franco-German hospital is not a solution for the current highly critical staffing situation. Therefore, the municipal council proposed to appeal to the district council to transfer the hospital back to municipal, non-profit, public sponsorship. A year ago, a change of carrier still seemed likely, said Mayor Rein. The deal would have been for the hospital to go back to the county. Since the district does not want to take over the sponsorship, the city of Breisach would have to take over the hospital. The Diakoniekrankenhaus Freiburg had shown great interest in our small Breisach hospital. Breisach could be a suitable addition with his orthopedic surgery. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
Let’s dream a little about “crowdfunding”: The city gets the money to buy back the Helios hospital, and the Diakoniekrankenhaus takes over the sponsorship.
Reality: On that evening we heard from our mayor: “We are not discussing sealing, but rather a shift in competencies and responsibilities for basic services”. By now, at the latest, it should be clear to everyone that their own advertising language is being used here. Clinic closings are unpopular. Anyone who says that must expect resistance. Therefore, clinic locations will not be closed, but will be “further developed and made sustainable”. Medical care is not reduced, but “improved”. The mayor announced a letter to the district administrator. May this letter fall on fertile ground on the critical situation of the hospital and with the option of a change of carrier.
Sometimes dreams can come true too.Iris Stellmacher, Breisach
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