I sympathise with Hadrian Cassar Torreggiani (Pigeons Are The Sewer Rats Of The Sky, November 3) on the fact that a member of his family contracted a medical condition from a pigeon.

Does he realise, however, that the homing pigeon saved literally thousands of Armed Forces lives during the two world wars with their heroic flights from downed planes and in other circumstances? Indeed, 26 pigeons were awarded the Dickens Medal for Valour, equivalent to the George Cross. None of this would have been achieved had these pigeons not been 100 per cent healthy.

As for carrying diseases, does not each and every one of God's creatures carry diseases of one sort or another? So what gives Mr Cassar Torreggiani the right to describe a pigeon in the way he did? I wonder how many readers of this column owe their very existence to the heroic actions of the racing pigeon?

By the way, is Mr Cassar Torreggiani any relation to the Baron Torreggiani, who was one of the founder members of Maltese Pigeon Fanciers? Shame on him for blighting one of God's creatures in that way.