LISTENING to the radio news I was shocked to hear about 29 pigs which scientists in Austria were proposing to kill by burying them in snow.

This monstrous act was supposed to provide information as to whether humans could survive avalanches without suffering brain damage. Fortunately animal rights activists and the opinion of the public caused the scientists to abandon the project.

With this in mind, it is vital that we retain the ban on hunting and the cruelty involved.

We are all animals and we have no right to inflict such suffering on other species especially for entertainment. Some people seem to imagine that if they can label creatures as 'vermin' it gives them the right to inflict suffering and death.

Well I looked in the Oxford Dictionary for the definition of 'vermin' . The word applies to 'troublesome insects and animals' and 'troublesome people'.

In these cases of cruelty I know where this term could be more aptly applied.

Joan Jones

Devon Heath Chudleigh Knighton