I’d like to respond to letter writer Tom McDonald (The Mail, 6/3), who thought your article on the death of a pet cat (“More Than a Feline,” 5/27) was good for nothing but laughs.

Unless you are an absolute cretin, the death of a pet due to veterinary malpractice is tragic and heartbreaking. Coco the cat’s story was very important to those of us who have and love pet cats, dogs, and other animals. I and my wife have also had bad experiences with Friendship Hospital for Animals, and though, thank goodness, our cats did not die, we now bring them elsewhere for medical attention.

McDonald made some noise in his letter about people dying in the Middle East. Yeah, McDonald, that’s tragic and important, but compassion is not a zero-sum game. Believe it or not, it is possible to care about both people and animals, and I for one want to see the Washington City Paper continue to report stories regarding both. So go ahead and laugh at stories about people’s pets dying, Tom McDonald, because it’s pretty obvious that someone like you doesn’t give a damn about people, either.

Silver Spring, Md.