Demonstrators Target Pet Hospital

From San Francisco there is a report of a demonstration held against the opening of a new pet hospital built by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The demonstrators complained about policies of providing guide dogs for the hearing-impaired and abandoning the "no-kill" rule for stray animals.

Blah, blah, blah, .... who cares? What's interesting, however, are comments appended by readers of the news report. One says that too many people in San Francisco "would protest the opening of an envelope."

Another reader opines that the media should calm down ... "There was (sic) 4 protesters and 20-30 media people."

Consequently, the real story out of San Francisco about the new pet hospital is that the media, once again, made themselves look lazy and irresponsible. Four people griping is hardly a demonstration. If it were, demonstrations are occurring every day at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

In any event, I believe the "protest" was not even newsworthy. Rather, the report of the incident appears to be an attempt to balloon and elevate someone's pet peeve into an issue of public concern. A one-liner stating the "protest" occurred would have been appropriate in the day's diary. A full-blown news article about it wasn't necessary nor appropriate -- even on a slow news day.