Drawing a link between all creatures great and small

To the Editor:

A few weeks ago I submitted a letter decrying cruelty to animals, particularly dogs.

I waxed eloquent about how, given proper training, puppies could grow up into loving companions and valuable helpers to us humans.

Finally, in my last two sentences, I pleaded that "dogs are God's innocent and defenseless creatures, not man's possessions to be killed or abused as he pleases.

Dogs must be protected, from the moment of conception until natural death."

I guess my literary skills are inadequate. I received several derisive letters and a few phone calls from irate readers accusing me of maintaining unnatural, tenderhearted relationships with all creatures great and small.

I readily admit that, on the face of it, my letter describes dogs as if they were human beings, with human dignity and deserving our protection as fellow human beings, "from the moment of conception until natural death."

That certainly is an extreme attitude considering that dogs are simply warm and fuzzy pets.

But when I witnessed the national uproar over dog fighting and their brutal killing, I wondered where is American outrage over the slow agonizing pain of abortion? My last two sentences should have been the giveaway.

Dogs were just a metaphor.

Joseph Pasulka

Southport, N.C.