Sir - I was one of the 'protestors' (WN 4.8.14) asking visitors to the sheep show, mostly farmers, to sign our petition to end live exports.

I found comments like 'I don't know why you're here' and 'You've come to the wrong place' rather strange.

Surely, if farmers love their animals like the image they portray to the public, we were in exactly the right place.

They should have been queuing up to sign, and I'm pleased to say that quite a few did.

However, comments ranging from 'A good sheep is a dead sheep' through 'Why don't you go and do something useful and stop annoying us' to '**** off' seem to indicate a distinct lack of empathy from most farmers towards their animals, or indeed towards us.

Roberta Balfour

Malvern