Don’t be a hypocrite about how meat gets to the plate
I HOPE the celebrities who criticised Larysa Switlyk, the American TV star who gets kicks out of killing goats (Mail) are all vegans or vegetarians. If not and they have bought meat from the local supermarket wrapped in cling film, they are hypocrites. Cattle, sheep, chickens and pigs are intensively reared to fill an everincreasing demand for food. They are slaughtered on an industrial scale, but we absolve our conscience by getting others to do the dirty work. I have worked in a slaughterhouse, so I know what happens to these animals. Let those celebrities decide which type of death is better for an animal: to have lived a natural, free-range, wild life and to die instantly from a bullet or to be bred in an unnatural manner and to undergo the trauma of being sent to an abattoir for slaughter. Wild goats and deer need to be controlled and culled, but they live a happy life and die a decent death before they are put to good use in the human food chain. I have stalked deer and pride myself on getting an accurate shot so the animal doesn’t suffer. It’s not about getting kicks, it’s about treating the quarry with respect. I butcher the carcass myself and it then goes in my freezer to feed my family. Those who buy a T-bone steak from the supermarket pretend to have nothing to do with the animal’s demise while hypocritically condemning people who hunt for their food in an ethical manner. COLiN BRUmmiTT, Peterborough, Cambs. LARYSA SWITLYK should hang her head in shame. This is not sport. Why aren’t these beautiful animals protected in the wilderness?
JEAN miLES, Harlech, Gwynedd. I AM an animal lover, yet understand the necessity for controlled culls. However, the photos of a young woman posing proudly with her unwarranted and unnecessary kills fill me with revulsion.
L. GADSBY, Truro, Cornwall. IF THAT woman hunter really must demonstrate her skill, why not level the playing field and wrestle her prey?
STEVE REDWOOD, Burbage, Wilts.