As a vegan of nearly 40 years, I agree with much of what Dean Weston says about animal welfare (Letters, 30 December). But as a former civil engineer, I cannot overlook the massive category mistakes in his assertion that the government’s animal welfare strategy “treats animal suffering the way Victorian engineers treated cholera. Add a valve here, a filter there, and never question the sewer itself.”
Victorian engineers did not “treat” cholera, but were arguably more effective than the medical profession in dealing with the disease. They reduced the prevalence of cholera precisely by constructing adequate sanitation. “The sewer itself” was the solution, not the problem.
Weston says: “If animals matter, stop eating them.” This is a cri de coeur (with which I concur), not a policy for meaningful change. Victorian engineers can inspire us to make structural changes in animal welfare that really make a difference.
Rev Canon Dr Rob Kelsey
Norham, Northumberland
We were eating roast chicken one Sunday when my son was six and my daughter three. He, even then a vegetarian, looked at her plate and said: “How can you eat animals?” “I’m not eating animals,” she replied. “I’m eating meat.” He then asked: “Where do you think meat comes from?” She answered: “From Marks & Spencer’s – I bought it with Daddy.” My son, now in his 40s, is still a vegetarian, my daughter still a meat-eater. Perhaps if young children were made more acutely aware of how animals end up on their plates, more would choose not to eat them.
Jennifer Jenkins
London
Can 2026 be the year that we start catering for cool vegans and vegetarians? However much I wish to give up meat, my digestive system objects very painfully to eating anything containing chilli or mustard. I cannot be the only person who would like to see foods flavoured with other herbs and spices beyond the constant offerings of vegetarian curries and chilli dishes. Please, please cater for cool vegetarians.
Sheila Cole
Evesham, Worcestershire
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