All Cats Loved Equally

On Dec. 20, there appeared in the View section a list of animal organizations in the area and information pertaining to those organizations (“Orphaned Pets as Gifts That Keep On Giving” by Tia Gindick). For your interest in behalf of homeless animals, we most gratefully tender our thanks. Our organization, however, (and our lovely cats) received no benefit from your philanthropy. Our address was incorrectly listed as Valley Avenue instead of Barry Avenue. This error was further compounded by the more serious statement that our shelter charged for our cats according to breed.

We are a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization and we do not charge for our animals. We do, however, subsist on donations, and when compassionate people visit our shelter to adopt a cat, most usually do give a donation that will cover our cost of spaying or neutering and vaccinating the animal, which is a very minimal amount. If they choose to donate more it is most certainly at their own discretion. The breed of the cat is not a consideration at all. There is no distinction in our feline democracy between exquisite Heather, who might be a gorgeous Persian, and Herman, who might be a three-legged, cauliflower-eared tabby. They are all equally important to us and equally loved.

The seriousness of the charge, however, is not just our hurt feelings. We have been inundated with calls and letters from our membership since the appearance of these errors in your paper, demanding to know the truth of these charges and withholding their donations until they can be sure that they are not supporting an organization that is selling cats and charging more for purebreds. You can see that this is a serious situation for the many cats in our care whose subsistence is provided for by these donations.

RONNIE FRIEND, chairman

Cat Care Shelter

West Los Angeles

All of the volunteers and officers of Animal Alliance wish to send our deepest thanks to you for the very informative and helpful article you wrote in your Dec. 20 issue in regard to the various humane groups in this city.

We received about 200 phone calls and so many of the people said they had never realized how many organizations existed and the services that were available. Others were pleased that they had a list of the groups for future reference and said it would be of great assistance.

We had at least 25 requests for Sara, the golden retriever, that you had photographed and found a wonderful home for her. We placed several other cats and dogs as well and received requests for help of various kinds from callers. All in all, your article was a tremendous success and a boon to our placements. It truly lifted our spirits at Christmas time.

MARTHA WYSS, director

Animal Alliance

Los Angeles

What’s in a Name? Plenty

Re “Yves Saint Laurent Cigarettes Light a Spark of Controversy” by Betty Goodwin, Jan. 25: In a fashion-conscious society that prides itself on its “lite cuisine,” aerobic dancing and holistic medicine, it is ironic to see fashion arbiter Yves Saint Laurent, who previously glorified the drug opium, through the promotion of his perfume of the same name, now glamorizing the equally addictive drug tobacco by lending his name to the “first designer cigarette.”

MARY E. HANSON

Whittier