To the Editor:

Today, it seems like when you open up the paper or turn on the TV the first thing you see is negative comments or negative stories. I feel that after this week and how certain issues turned out, a “pat on the back” was deserved.

Legislation was introduced by a delegate from Northern Virginia in this years’ session of the General Assembly, House Bill 2345, which was intended to do away with the right to retrieve law that is currently in place in Virginia. On Monday night, the Southampton County Board of Supervisors voted 7-0 in favor of drafting a letter to the committee hearing the bill, stating that the board opposed HB2345 and that they were in full support of the current right to retrieve law in Virginia.

I would like to say thank you to the board for their full support on this! The thank you does not come from just deer hunters, but from all the hunting dog owners in our county. Being born and raised in Southampton, there are many things that I consider to be part of our heritage, and this is one of them. Hearing dog hunting stories from grandfathers and great grandfathers from back in the early 1900s, and what they considered a way of life, many hunters today in Southampton County feel the exact same way.

So to the Board of Supervisors I again say thank you. Thank you for standing united with the hunting dog community and please continue to give us your strongest support as we continue on with our heritage and what many consider our way of life.

John Rawls Jr.
Capron, Va.