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In a Subjunctive Mood

If I were Ms. [Carlene] Malone I would be nonplussed (Metro Pulse Media Blitz, Feb. 1). If I were Joe Tarr's English teacher I would be aghast. If I were Joe Tarr's editor I would be embarrassed. If I were the benevolent dictator I would require Joe Tarr to read The Harbrace [College] Handbook chapter on verb tense, and to revisit ethics from Reporting 101. It is hard to decide whether it is worse that a reporter would alter a quotation because he cannot recognize standard English, or that he and many of his colleagues are unfamiliar with the subjunctive mood. That Ms. Malone's perfect English sounded "funny" to Mr. Tarr would be humorous if it were not so sad.

Genet G. Weber
Knoxville

Caged Fury?

Pedestrians on Cumberland Avenue stepping out for lunch on Wednesday may have had a little more trouble negotiating the sidewalk than usual. That is, if a PETA activist was successful in her mission to set up a cage on the busy walkway and place herself inside, wearing only painted-on tiger stripes.

Why would a woman shed perfectly good clothes and sit in a cage on a cold February day? Because she wants to get people's attention—and, once she's got it, let them know that they should stay away from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey circus when it rolls into town next week.

In order to force exotic animals to perform stressful acts, like jumping through fire, trainers use whips, muzzles, electric prods, and bullhooks. In nature, these animals would be free to walk and run, choose lifetime companions, and raise their families.

The circus forces animals to perform confusing, sometimes dangerous acts night after night for 48 to 50 weeks every year. Between performances, elephants are kept chained, and bears and tigers are "stored" in cages barely large enough for them to turn around in.

In the last few years, Ringling paid $20,000 to settle charges brought by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of failing to provide veterinary care to a dying baby elephant. Another baby elephant drowned, having been removed from his mother before she could teach him to swim. A caged tiger was shot to death. A wild-caught sea lion who had reached only half of her life expectancy was found dead in her transport crate. And a horse who was forced to perform despite a chronic medical condition collapsed and died during Ringling's traditional animal march.

For information on the many circuses that use only willing, paid human performers, like Cirque Ingénieux, Cirque du Soleil, the New Pickle Family Circus, and Circus Oz, visit People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' Web site at www.circuses.com.

Debbie Leahy
Norfolk, Va.