SIR – Congratulations to Ann Pursey for walking the length of the Severn Way to raise money for a dog rescue centre in Romania (Ann’s Walk Will Save Dogs Like This From Misery, WN, June 24).
Ann is right that “the situation with stray dogs in Romania is desperate” and that “so many dogs are being killed on the streets” there.
However, we must not fool ourselves into believing that things in this country are very much better.
According to a report by the rescue charity Dogs Trust, there are more than 110,000 stray or abandoned dogs in the UK, with more than 7,000 being destroyed by councils annually.
A major reason is that deliberate and negligent breeding has produced far more dogs than homes are available for them.
For this reason, it is vital that members of the public should get their dogs neutered and spayed at the earliest opportunity.
And please don’t encourage breeding by buying a dog or puppy from a breeder or pet shop. Go to a rescue instead.
JANE HARGREAVES
Stourport

Cars are causing the real harm
SIR – Re: Berrows Journal June 25,  Smoking Ban Well Received on all NHS Sites. As a non-cigarette smoker. I would also applaud its prohibition, if it did in fact cause me any discomfort!
However, on my visits to the Worcestershire Royal, when passing one of the now defunct smoking shelters, unlike the unnamed health chief, I never found myself walking through “clouds of smoke” coming from the handful of participants.
Perhaps that health chief should put as much energy, into warning patients and visitors in the dangers of inhaling the deadly gas emitted from the hundreds of vehicles which gather daily at its entrance, pumping out deadly fumes.
Another headline read Cornmarket Gets a Famous Five. One of the proposed statues to be erected will be that of Rev Studdert Kennedy aka Woodbine Willy who famously risked his life, on the front lines of the first World War, to hand out cigarettes to comfort soldiers in the trenches, before going into action.
Ironically, the Worcester Mental Health Resource Centre is entitled Studdert Kennedy house. No doubt, those with problems will be prevented from having a stress-relieving smoke in their gardens also.
ROBIN SMITH
Worcester


Appalling indictment of the human race
SIR – Susannah Gill of Arena Racing, owners of Worcester Racecourse, claims that “from around 90,000 runners each year, the average fatality rate is just 0.2 per cent” (Campaigners’ Fury as Racehorse Dies, Worcester News, June 24).
However, when one does the sums, this “0.2 per cent” amounts to 180 horses killed on British racecourses every year, so not really a figure that the word “just” should be applied to.
And this is leaving aside the thousands of horses that are slaughtered annually after failing to make the grade as racers or when their racing days are over.
Several of the web comments you published regarding the deaths of horses at Worcester merely showed the ignorance and lack of compassion of the commentators.
If human athletes were being deliberately bred only to be killed when they could no longer race and if hundreds were being fatally injured while racing each year, this situation would not be tolerated for one instant.
The fact that it is allowed in the case of other highly aware animals, such as horses and greyhounds, is an appalling indictment of the cruelty and arrogance of the human species.
ISOBEL THORPE
Worcester

Flower baskets a ‘must’ for tourists
SIR – The weather was perfect on June 27 (shades of summer, hopefully not the last) so my partner and I decided to bus from Barbourne to Crown Gate and thence by Shank’s pony to Croft Road where we enjoyed a blissful day by The Severn in peaceful surroundings with cafe at hand and well kept flowerbeds and river activity to keep us amused.
Previously my late wife and I had also enjoyed on several occasions negotiating the notorious walks on both sides of the river, but with the beautiful overhanging flower baskets as a bonus.These, we were told, were dispensed with due to cuts,but surely if the council are serious that they want to present Worcester as a tourist attraction these baskets are a must!
It is ironic that overhanging displays were were in place when riverside paths were just a pipe dream yet absent to complement the excellent work which has gone into the river banks.
PHIL PEGLER
Worcester


Animal welfare over metal machinery
SIR – As a steam rail enthusiast, I appreciate the importance of the Severn Valley Railway raising funds “to help restore and preserve the heritage of the railways”.
However, I think it is very sad that the SVR chose to do this by means of a “charity race day” at Worcester Racecourse (Race Stays on Track for a Fundraising Drive, WN, June 26)
In view of the recently exposed horrific death toll of horses at Worcester and of the thousands killed by the horse racing industry in general, one would hope that respectable institutions like the SVR would refrain from supporting the course in this manner.
I love steam trains, but I still recognise that the welfare of living feeling creatures is far more important than metal machinery, and those who run the SVR should understand that too.
PETER TALBOT
Worcester

Thinking outside the box is needed
SIR – I read in your excellent paper the huge house building programme taking place in Worcester and surrounding districts.
 In order to cope with this extra population I very much hope that there is also well advanced plans to expand Worcester Royal Hospital with more doctors, nurses, beds and parking facilities. The roads need to be updated, in particular the ring road needs to be completed.
There needs to be some imaginative thinking refusing to take no as an answer and thinking outside of the box otherwise all those in charge will lead us like lemmings to the brink of chaos.
SHAY CATHERWOOD
Ombersley

Tie-in to different makes of car
SIR – Ties. in the 26th June edition – advertising features pages 35, 37, 38 and 39 all promoting different car makes but all wearing the same ties. Top gear or what ?
STEVEN JACKSON
West Midlands