In response to the recent article on animals being left behind in wake of the Kilauea lava flow (“Humane Society and residents scramble to save pets left behind,” Star-Advertiser, May 9): What type of people would do this to innocent animals?

If one cannot care for or want their animals any longer, it’s very simple: Take them to an animal shelter where at least they have a chance to survive. I especially enjoyed reading about how some animals were left to “guard” the houses and face boiling lava, intense heat, sulphuric air and no water or food.

No animal deserves to be abandoned and left in these conditions.

Do the right thing, residents.

Gail Marotta

Hawaii Kai

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Prostate screening still a good idea

The new guidance on prostate cancer screening issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) still falls short because of the negativity associated with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing for men outside the age band of 55 to 69.

Regardless of the statistics or lack thereof, the finding runs counter to the needs of the patients and medical care I have come to know.

Many patients younger than 55 have lethal cancers, often as a result of having undetected genetic mutations and manifested through familial disease. African- Americans also exhibit high risk at an earlier age.

For those age 69 and older, why deny them adequate testing because of the assumed harms of any treatment or the assumption they will die from other causes?

We advocate PSA testing 10 years earlier, at age 45, and continue for an indeterminate period after 69, based on the individual. Only through a biopsy can cancer be revealed and the individual and doctor jointly can decide to treat or not.

Paul Mizue

President, Hawaii Prostate Cancer Coalition

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Ex-homeless should pay their fair share

Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced the city’s purchase of a building on Ena Road in Waikiki to house six chronically homeless individuals and also create mostly affordable housing (“City acquires first building for Housing First units in Waikiki,” Star- Advertiser, May 9).

It’s a good start.

Now six individuals will get their own room and bathroom, as well as wraparound services that may help propel them to a better place in their lives, for which they may pay little or nothing at all.

After those six people improve their situation and perhaps get a job and the ability to pay rent on their own, they still could live in perpetuity in that apartment.

They should be required to move to other affordable housing and pay rent, making room for other needy chronic homeless. They should not live off the government and taxpayers unnecessarily.

Dave Moskowitz

Waikiki

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‘Live Well’ benefits seniors, families

Thank you, Star-Advertiser, for your Tuesday feature insert, “Live Well: The rest of your life. The best of your life.”

These timely articles targeting our baby boomers and their family members on health, money and crime are invaluable.

I am president to an 88-year-old nonprofit organization of university women with almost 200 mostly senior members.

Our organization provides college scholarships and promotes our island Chinese heritage.

I find your articles useful to many of our members, alerting them to scams, frauds and available services from our various government agencies.

Your articles help add conversational topics to our gatherings and in our quarterly members’ bulletin.

Please continue to provide this “Live Well” insert to our subscribers.

Chu Lan Shubert-Kwock

Chinatown

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Don’t confirm CIA director nominee

About the confirmation of Gina Haspel (“CIA nominee vows she would not allow torture,” Star-Advertiser, May 10): The argument that what the CIA did — and it was much more than waterboarding — is not torture because some Bush administration flunky attorney said it wasn’t, is disgraceful.

Any reasonable person would know what the CIA did is torture. Furthermore, if all this was legal, why did they conduct this torture in black sites in Thailand? They could have done it in the basement at CIA headquarters. And why destroy the evidence?

I was a police detective for 19 years and this has the earmarks of the cover-up of a crime.

Haspel should not be rewarded for torturing human beings and then destroying the evidence. I urge our senators not to vote to confirm.

Paul Pollitt

Kaneohe

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Trump doesn’t speak for most Americans

We apologize to our friends in Great Britain and the rest of Europe for the recent ignorant statements of our rude president. He does not represent the majority of Americans.

Guy Taylor

Waipahu

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Museum exhibit mocks Catholic faith

It was interesting that you published a photo and caption on the Metropolitan Museum of Art gala, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” (“Heavenly fashion,” Star-Advertiser, May 5).

I’m confident that the Hollywood crowd would never endorse or attend an event with a similar theme mocking the Islamic faith.

I am also confident the Star- Advertiser would never cover such an event, as the breach of “political correctness” would never get past your editors.

Robert Lottie

Kailua