To: The Dallas Morning News
Date:  March 15, 2002
Subject: Babe the elephant's stillborn baby
Result: not printed

Dear Editor,

The still birth of Babe the elephant's baby in the Fort Worth zoo is very lamentable. I heard the veterinarian at the zoo say on the news that she thought the birth process just took too long. I think I may know why.

From the first word that Babe was in labor, she became a spectacle, with millions of people waiting anxiously for the baby to pop. News crews, cameras, spectators all over the place. Why couldn't they just give her a nice quiet place to have her baby in peace?

An elephant is an intelligent animal, with sensitivities. It's like me when I go to the public restroom. If I'm standing there ready to do my business, but there's somebody behind me tapping their foot waiting for it to happen, I get inhibited, and the flow is impeded.

Maybe it was the same with Babe and her baby.

Thank you, John Vehon