Omak Suicide Race -- Better To Bury Suicide Race At Omak Than Another Horse

The editorial "All the pretty horsies" (Aug. 16) refers to those who object to the annual Omak Suicide Race as the "squeamish, the guilty and the misinformed."

Yet, if human life, instead of animal life, were the price at Omak or the Iditarod, these events would be unacceptable. Imagine apathetically anticipating the deaths of a few Olympic athletes every four years, or several football players each season.

To say that human interaction with animals is a "mirror of nature" and a "complicated interdependence" misses the point of human accountability.

Human impact on "other animals" extends far beyond interdependent interactions since, for the most part, we determine the nature of the interactions. Power without accountability always results in abuse.

If people are able to feel compassion for a "nice horsie here and a poor kitty there," maybe that's a step toward a future in which the millions of animals we eat will not lead wretched lives while being fattened for the kill and lists of endangered species will be relics of the past.

Better to bury the Omak Suicide Race than another horse.

Jade Grace

Seattle