Do Animals Have Same Rights as People?

In Howard Rosenberg’s Jan. 27 column (“More Stupid TV Tricks: News Dept.”), he claims Mike Wallace in a “60 Minutes” report “twice misquoted a tenet” of the animal rights movement when he said, “A rat is a cat is a dog is a pig is a boy.” Rosenberg further argues that the actual statement from the leader of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Ingrid Newkirk, is significantly different--i.e., that she was referring to “ ‘when it comes to feelings like pain, hunger and thirst.’ ”

In fact, Wallace perfectly sums up how many in the animal rights movement feel. They proudly state the moral equivalence of human and animal life; even Newkirk has said numerous times that between saving a dog and a human it’s no easy call. Moreover, I don’t find her quotation any better than Wallace’s--leaving aside the factual incorrectness; the philosophical conclusions Newkirk intends it to lead to are still sick and degrading.

PHILIP JACOBS

Los Angeles