Look at How a Society Treats Its Animals

Re “Promised Land for Donkeys” (Aug. 8), about a woman who is saving donkeys horrendously mistreated in the Mideast: Gandhi wrote, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” It is obvious that societies that treat their “lowest of the low” with such cruelty and indifference are barbarians and should be understood as such.

How do you talk with barbarians? How do you negotiate for peace? How can you expect anything resembling a civilized way of dealing with politics and sociology, or empathy and compassion, from such people?

Let’s face it. There are plenty of humans in every land whose treatment of others, be they animals or people, is savage. But the description of this ubiquitous attitude toward animals that are enslaved to humans and cannot save themselves is appallingly telling of what we have to contend with in that region of the globe.

And bless Lucy Fensom. How do I adopt a donkey?

Rachel Rosenthal

Los Angeles