Editor:

In response to Edward Stevenson, (“Beef: It’s what’s for dinner,” Oct. 15) he argues that since “animals do not treat each other as if they had rights,” we should not treat them as if they do.

Why not take the argument to another issue? Iraqis do not seem to respect each other’s rights to live, always fighting and killing each other…so why not kill them all?

It is out of compassion. We want them to have better lives, and live in a somewhat democratic country.

It is also out of compassion that I am advocating animals’ rights so they may have better lives.

I don’t think they could pay taxes or serve in the military. I am simply saddened by their lives lost in the world’s meat factories.

And there is the other argument: Since bears eat other animals, we should as well, implying we naturally eat animals.

Meaning, also, that we would hunt them in the forest or in grasslands. This may be the case with deer hunters, but it is hardly true with the vast majority of meat eaten in the United States.

Most of the meat in the United States (excluding some fish) is from industrialized factory farms. This is a natural way to get meat.

James Comeford

Sophomore, Environmental Studies