Letter: Animal rights, and wrongs

Editor, Daily News:

Two very interesting articles appeared in the Daily News recently.

One, last Thursday: It seems Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is shaking in its boots because people are aware of the cruelty to the elephants. Other animals suffer, too; but the elephants really feel it the most.

The owners still want us to believe that elephants who travel 50 weeks a year in either hot and stuffy boxcars or freezing cold boxcars are not stressed! They still want us to believe that being chained with about a six-foot range of movement is OK for an animal that size.

Well, I don't believe it and never have. These gentle giants live in familial groups and travel freely for miles on a daily basis. There have been lawsuits that tell the truth, and there will continue to be lawsuits until the "big top" comes down once and for all.

Two, last Friday: Greyhounds are dying again at the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track. This time they are suffering from kennel cough. The track people said it was similar to our flu. They then say that they are shortening their track schedules so the dogs aren't overworked.

I can't imagine having to run a marathon if I was suffering with a fever and the flu. How many more dogs have to die, from anything, before that track is closed? Only 18 states still allow the greyhound tracks.

If people want to gamble, go ahead, but not at the expense of a greyhound's life.

Susan M. Mehas , Naples