I disagree with the letter writer (A-J, 5-16) who concluded after his "research" that some people place a greater value on animal life than they do human life because of some "diabolic" government conspiracy.
I believe the answer is more simple. People are gullible and, generally, driven by emotions rather than logic. That easily leads one to believe that salamanders are more valuable than people.
For the gullible, an antelope is more valuable than a crocodile because it is prettier. A baby elephant more so than the antelope, and a fur-ball baby tiger more than the elephant, and so on and so on. Cute equals value. Nobody cries over a squashed cockroach, not even a baby one. Logic would dictate that all creatures are either intrinsically valuable, or worthless.
If we all slithered out of the ocean at some point, then I would agree, there is no moral or spiritual difference between killing a ten-year-old girl and a radish. (Let's not forget plant life!)
It doesn't require a government conspiracy to make people say and believe silly things. We do well enough on our own.
BRIAN PALMER, Lubbock