For the love of animals

It is evident from Franco Farrugia’s letter (September 8) he is now feeling guilty about telling Marianne Pace and others it was their problem if they didn’t like dogs or any other animals running on beaches.

That is what he said and that is why his writing was, again, silly, to say the least.

His statement that I am one of those types, cruel to animals and that I was ‘’put off ‘’ animals as a child, is the opposite of what I really am, in fact. Since childhood, I have had most of the domestic animals that exist, including dogs, cats, pigeons and horses: an English thoroughbred, a Welsh mountain pony, and Anglo Arab and many Moroccan barbs.

It seemed so urgent for him to write to belittle me that he didn’t even bother to read my comments properly. ‘’I don’t mind swimming with dogs’’, is what I said and not the opposite. I said that they should be taken far away from people, when swimming, because the beach in summer isn’t the place where they should be, full stop.

What has cruelty got to do with what I wrote?

Again, those who fear animals because such fear was injected in them when they were children have absolutely nothing to be blamed for, as long as they don’t harm the animals.

I bet Mr Farrugia wouldn’t hesitate to jump in the midst of a pack of lions? Like the lion tamers, his love for animals makes him fearless.

I agree with him that animals make your life richer. I admit, also, that my love for animals and the thousands of euros I spent on them, in particular, their well-being, have made me much poorer unlike many self-proclaimed defenders of animals.

Like Mr Farrugia, that is all I have to say about this subject, except that the more people I know the more I love animals.