THE HUMAN ANIMAL

Regarding Kady Lane’s letter (Jan. 21) about an innovative movie plot wherein animal trainers become enlightened and release the animal captives into an enclosed compound that closely resembles their natural habitat.

How about this for a plot: Animals train people for movies and the animals’ entertainment. The animals realize the inhumanity of what they’re doing and release the people into a compound that closely resembles the humans’ natural habitat and animals come to observe these people in human zoos.

We need to think a little more about what we do to animals for entertainment. (Check out The Times’ Sports section to learn about a racehorse named Tillie’s Joy, which was whipped by a jockey after the race, broke down and had to be destroyed.)

WENDY AVERILL

Culver City

*

Is Kady Lane one of Mel Brooks’ writers? Imagine! She was disturbed that the “Dunston Checks In” audience found the orangutan’s performance funny!

All of us “higher level” primates work (i.e, “perform”) all the time for food, habitation, sex and peer approval. That’s the nature of things. I have a better idea for Ms. Lane. She should take a few dozen of her activist friends and go to the Serengeti for a year or so. They should go in without clothing or the other trappings of civilization, such as knives or tools, in order not to poison the “natural habitat.” This is one sure way to find out quickly just who your friends are.

Write me when you get back, and we can enjoy a Bonzo or Dunston movie together.

ROBERT GREEN

Sherman Oaks