Spare thought for the cattle (From News Shopper)

Spare thought for the cattle

11:35am Tuesday 2nd October 2007 in Letters

IN REGARD to the recent foot and mouth outbreaks, I have heard and read various media reports.

The reports have centred mainly on the sufferings, largely financial, of the farmers, abattoirs and associated trades, and on the attempts to identify the source of the infections, while preventing further spread.

What has been so conspicuous by its absence has been the mention of any concern, or sympathy expressed, for the animals themselves.

Despite being living creatures, it is as if their lives and sufferings are of no significance.

They are treated as inanimate objects useful only as a means of profit.

So have we now become a nation devoid of conscience and compassion?

The culling of these wretched creatures, some bearing young, has, as usual, been kept well hidden from the public gaze.

I can only imagine the terror they would have endured in their final moments of life.

C POPE
Nurstead Road
Erith