Letters to the Editor: Animals aren’t here for human use. Giving them better cages isn’t enough

To the editor: As always, it’s good to see animal issues covered in The Times, but one has to note the irony when the author of “Animal Liberation Now,” Peter Singer, calls for bigger and better cages. (“Think humans’ treatment of animals has improved in 50 years? Think again,” Opinion, May 16)

That is a call for animal welfare now, a worthy goal but one that lags behind most of the animal advocacy movement and even behind current trends in society.

There is a growing understanding that other species are not here for our use. They have worth and wonder of their own, which is becoming more frequently acknowledged in human society.

That acknowledgment will bring change we will not see if our main focus is on causing animals less suffering in their servitude.

Karen Dawn, Santa Barbara

The writer is executive director of DawnWatch, an animal advocacy nonprofit.

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To the editor: The story of Buddha tells us that before he became enlightened, he was a pampered prince whose father shielded him from witnessing the three most dreaded truths faced by humanity: old age, sickness and death.

In a similar way, the meat industry shields our eyes from the horrors of the slaughterhouse and clogs our ears from the wailing of the billions of its victims. Nor do we ever see the terrible crowded conditions where the animals spend their short lives before they are exterminated.

All we see are the neatly packaged steaks, sausages and bacon that are displayed on grocery shelves. Then we cook those viands and enjoy their taste, without giving a thought to the suffering of those creatures whom St. Francis called our brothers and sisters.

We’re all like Buddha before he saw old age, illness and death. So, as long as the meat and poultry corporations have their way, we’ll never see the unimaginable evil of concentrated animal feeding operations.

David Quintero, Monrovia