Should ambulance crews rescue animals?

AMBULANCEMEN and paramedics should not pick up animals, as happened to a great-grandmother in Cambridgeshire while she was being taken to hospital. Imagine if it was your loved one in an ambulance in a life-or-death situation and, because the crew stopped to pick up a dog, they arrived at A&E too late to save their patient. Even if the patient is not desperately ill, the crew do not know if things could take a turn for the worse. It’s horrible if, like me, you’ve seen a dog that has been run over and is in agony. But you still can’t give an animal priority over a person. (A policeman was at the scene with me and we decided, reluctantly, to put the poor dog out of its misery. However, it died seconds later). People shouldn’t think they can ring 999 for an ambulance if they find an injured animal. This would block up an emergency line and potentially stop a sick or injured person getting immediate attention.

RICHARD SIROT, Deal, Kent.

WELL done to the paramedics who picked up the distressed labrador while taking a non-urgent patient to hospital. Thank goodness there are still people with compassion for helpless animals. Not only did they save the animal from possible injury or death, but also spared other people from having to witness such a tragedy. I have to say the lady patient would be more likely to be infected by another human than a dog. JOYCE E. MUMFORD, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.

The dog in this incident was not going to ‘seriously infect anyone’. It was restrained and a board was placed between it and the patient.

Mrs PHYLLIS BAGWELL, Torquay, Devon.