Penis paean
Sir: Charles Moore's paean of praise for penis-hunters (Another voice, 12 March) is objectionable not so much because it is an apologia for aphrodisia nor because it is a glorification of superstition (elderly Chinese fornicators eat dried seal penises in the hope that theirs will respond with vigour) but because it seeks to excuse cruelty.
Seals are being killed, often very cruelly and clumsily, by the Canadians, so that their penises can be cut out and sold to China. In an extraordinary admission of twisted values, Moore asserts that it is `sen- timental' to worry about animal death and pain. Was he beaten at school, one won- ders, because he was a wet? He seems over- ly anxious to reassure the reader of his manliness.
To conclude that 'sentimentality about animal death and pain does seem to accom- pany, even to augment, a self-righteous cru- elty towards human beings' frankly is a travesty of the truth. The historical record is full of examples to prove that those who are especially kind to animals are often out- standingly kind to humans too. Wilber- force, Shaftesbury, Martin, Burdett-Coutts and Dr Johnson are immediate examples which come to mind.
Richard D. Ryder
Hay House, Haytor, Devon
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