IN answer to your letter to the editor “The government vs private businesses” — it was never my intention to open this to a public forum/slugfest although I do feel compelled to answer total misunderstandings and misstatements. Sometimes intentions and reality are two different things, and your letter was well taken. I apologize to any and all if any statements attributed to me were offensive.
I have reviewed all of the statements attributed to me, however, and have found nothing that I would consider personally disrespectful of Dr. Dela Cruz. Hopefully he feels the same way.
I respect Dr D. as a fellow veterinarian, as the secretary of DLNR, and as the official veterinarian for the CNMI. I like him personally and we have always gotten along; I just don’t like what he’s doing at this point in time. As a fellow veterinarian I feel sure he understands the economic reality that I deal with better than anyone else.
I do feel that his time could be better spent delivering veterinary care to the island of Rota, and possibly Tinian (where the only veterinary care is my once a month clinic), and revising our antiquated quarantine system to embrace the new technology as have most of our neighbors.
You are right that using the term “poor” is a bad choice of words.
This has never been about the poor, or the rich, it has always been about the value that one places on one’s pets (people always spend money on what they value, and refuse to spend money on what they don’t). If you value your pets, you want the best care possible, and at PIAH we are there to satisfy that need.
I also fully realize there are those that don’t value their pets and so want the least expensive service they can get, and this cuts across all socio-economic boundaries. This would explain the phantom “help” that the DLNR clinic extends to PIAH by referring clients for services not provided at the vaccination clinic — while well intentioned, these referred pets rarely make it across town to my door. I don’t think it’s because they got lost on the way, as much as they simply don’t value their pets enough to spend the anticipated money regardless of the suffering of their pets. While this is certainly within their rights, it is a terrible situation for the pets, and must be remembered when part of the justification for the DLNR clinic is that they refer clients to me. What one says and what one does are often totally different.
A large percentage of my cliental is “poor” financially but not in their love for their pets. I understand that there is a need for everyone to be able to find the veterinary care that they choose, but on this small island that may not be possible for the time being.
Keep in mind that I gave Dr Dela Cruz my blessing when he opened his clinic in 2002 and asked for closure only when things started going downhill, accompanied by rising costs, and fewer clients coming in the door .... see rising business closures and worsening economics island wide.
Let those with ears to hear, hear.

EDGAR TUDOR, DVM
Paradise Island
Animal Clinic