FIONA Galbraith, Keep animals out of shops, Postbag, April 14, is obviously very concerned about animal welfare and that is a good thing. I am not qualified to talk about the fur trade, or what happens in China, so she may well be correct.

However, I found it offensive that she complained of millions of lambs freezing to death in Britain when most of the farmers I know lamb their sheep inside and go to great lengths to keep their sheep alive, to the benefit of the sheep's welfare and the farmers' livelihood.

She then talks about sheep being cut by clippers when shearing is done in summer, but this is done to reduce heat stress and she fails to do justice to the skill of the shearer navigating their way around the contours of a moving sheep.

Leather does come from cattle, but these are also kept for milk, cheese, yoghurt, butter and beef, and I don't know of any farming process which just takes an animal for its hide.

At a time when we are shooting pregnant cattle and young calves because of TB, spread by diseased badgers which are protected by law, I appreciate Fiona Galbraith's concern for animal welfare, but I do not find her approach especially helpful.

ANDREW BRANTON Uplowman