In Dorothy Wolovlek’s Aug. 20 letter, she stated that if animals did feel pain or have intelligence, and if people thought they did, they might consent to bestiality. I was appalled. I thought about such ignorance and then realized that many people believe this. If they didn’t, this world would be a better place.

Bestiality is a common practice — has been for thousands of years and without the consent of any of the millions of animals. There are Internet videos of young boys raping chickens for up to 20 minutes, while the poor animal is screaming in pain and fear, only for the next turn.

In the mid-1800s, medical researchers laid dogs on their backs and nailed their paws down to dissect them with nothing for pain. As they thrashed, cried, yelped, howled, the researchers said it was a “normal response,” not pain.

With the new evidence brought by Dorothy Wolovlek, we certainly haven’t gained much ground concerning the emotional lives of animals.

There is a brothel in Borneo that had a captive female orangutan named Pony. Her babies were stolen from her, she was dressed up as a prostitute, and her lips were smeared with red lipstick. She was restrained, and lines of immoral degenerate men paid to take turns raping her.

Dorothy is sure Pony didn’t mind. And the hundreds of Indonesian orangutans buried up to their necks, left to die? Dorothy’s sure they didn’t mind, either.