‘Cultural Differences’ and Food

Struck by the outpour of emotional response in the letters (“Refugees Kill Pet for Food,” March 23), I wonder the following:

Have these enraged citizens ever been moved to take a public stand concerning the tremendous numbers of lovable pets regularly destroyed and neatly disposed of at animal shelters? If, as was pointed out in one of the letters, we have a moral responsibility to care for and protect domesticated animals, why then are we routinely abandoning so many pets at the pound?

Further, what about cattle and fowl--also among the many animals domesticated by humankind over the years? Doesn’t a cow suffer the same as any other living creature bludgeoned to death?

Let’s be honest about the real issue: emotionalism and perhaps, I suspect, even a touch of xenophobia.

ANN STRAUCH

Manhattan Beach