I was saddened to see the front page article (Auburn Reporter, July 29) picturing a massive balloon release to “celebrate” a book launch, recently at the Auburn YMCA. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been reminding us for years, “please do not release balloons!”

“Birds, turtles and other animals commonly mistake balloons for food, which can harm or even kill them. In addition, many animals can become entangled in balloon strings, which can strangle them or hurt their feet and hands,” according to Fish and Wildlife.

Please give the wildlife a break and just say no thank you to releasing balloons into the environment.

I regret that the Reporter encourages this practice by raving about the book release (“a different, creative way”) and including instruction where kids can download the book and create their own pollution.

At least 100 balloons were released; please follow up with how many are recovered, so we will know how many ended up as litter.

– Jennifer H. Russo