Depressing toll of animal cruelty

From the archive, first published Tuesday 14th Mar 2006.

SIR - Cruelty against animals is on the rise. If it isn't horses, its dogs, cats, kittens. The A to Z of suffering species splashed across our newspapers and frequently reported in regional broadcasts. It's bewildering because animals are our companions. They are so honest and trusting and we gain so much from them. If people cannot care for them properly they should not have them at all. It's that simple.

But are courts sometimes too forgiving? The cruelty case involving the youth who broke the back leg of a puppy and attacked his girlfriend's sister in Malvern shows astonishing leniency on the part of the Magistrate.

The offender practically escaped Scot-free. Pensioners have been locked up for council tax default but young thugs like this can walk away from court. Justice?

ANDREW BROWN,

Worcester.

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