Unwanted Iguanas

Re “Plight of the Iguana,” June 8.

You report that Wildlife Waystation and the L.A. Zoo have no room for anybody else’s pet iguana that predictably got large, but your article did not mention one obvious resolution. Iguanas are herbivores. We are omnivores. Rumor has it, from their native countries, that they taste like chicken. “Circle of life.”

My daughter lives in a rural area now, and she tells me it is customary for folks who raise little herbivores into large herbivores to either not name them, or to give them names that reflect their destiny, like “Lamb Chops.” Neighbors eat each other’s ex-pet livestock. If sentiment, religious dietary law or food prejudice prevents someone from eating their own iguana that now has enough meat on its bones for a family dinner, there is somebody else in town who won’t let it go to waste.

JAMES K. MATTIS, Sunland

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Pet stores callous enough to continue profiting on the trendys’ erratic buying habits should attach cooking instructions for when they reach 15 pounds, perhaps adding the slogan, “Save a turkey; eat your iguana!”

CARL G. HOKANSON, Encino