Vincent Argument Ignores Differences

Re “Animal Rights and Wrongs,” June 19: Norah Vincent complains about the perceived “hypocrisy of pious vegan pro-choicers who believe that killing human fetuses at any stage of development is a woman’s constitutional right, but having a rabbit for dinner is unconscionable.” She doesn’t seem to grasp some relevant differences. A rabbit (or any other higher vertebrate) has far more sentience and consciousness than embryos in the first trimester, when 90% of abortions actually occur. And rabbits or other animals are not occupying the most private part of a person’s body against that person’s will or in any way compromising bodily autonomy. If and when animals do infringe on human autonomy or safety, then a legitimate right of self-defense does exist.

Douglas Dunn

Oceanside

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I don’t agree that the choice is between us, the humans, or them, the animals. I feel all beings have the right to freedom from pain and confinement and premeditated murder. Factory farming is a miserable business, endless torture for the animals that are raised for food. Vivisection is a shop of horrors for the animals who have to endure a life of being injected with all sorts of our poisonous concoctions. It is time that we change our idea that it is our right to inflict upon the animals whatever it is we deem necessary for our benefit.

Because, in the end, it is not for our benefit. Eating meat causes all sorts of diseases from cancer to heart attacks. And animal testing is archaic and outdated. We don’t even resemble most of the animals that tests are performed on. Let’s move into the new millennium with compassion for all the living beings we share the Earth with. It is not us or them. It is us and them.

Laura Frisk

Encinitas

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Aside from the fact that Vincent doesn’t deserve a single column inch in a paper like The Times, she neglects to tell her readers how she made the incredible discovery that humans outrank other animals “because they alone have souls.” The research behind that discovery must be fascinating. Please grant her one more column (but only one) to explain herself on this one.

William McCall

Arcadia