As a young man growing up on a farm, I can sympathize with Mark Gould from Sidney (“Sidney farmer summoned for escaping cows,” March 24).

Having several times been asked by my grandfather to go to my neighbors to “retrieve” some cows that escaped our pasture, the newspaper article brought back some fond, or not so fond, memories.

The difference in our situation was that our cows would never think of defecating or urinating in our neighbors’ fields. We trained our animals to hold their urges until such time as they were brought back to their own barn or pasture!

To be truthful, our cows were from West Gardiner, and therefore better educated than those Sidney animals. There must be some government program that Gould could participate in that would help him train his animals not to defecate or urinate on other people’s property.

Perhaps he can qualify for cost-sharing to purchase cow diapers and goat diapers if his animals are untrainable.

Steve Goodwin

Richmond