ANIMAL CRUELTY

I AM a supporter of the RSPCA. Indeed my three pets are all rescue animals from the RSPCA. I am horrified by cruelty to animals and would wish to see such cases dealt with as serious crimes meriting serious penalties.

However, I think your report (Echo, June 26) on the North-East being the top animal cruelty region is misleading. The problem is in the understanding of the term "'North-East". Most commonly, it refers to the area covered by the Tees Valley, County Durham and Northumberland. However, for some organisations, particularly charitable ones, North-East refers to a much larger area and this is the case with the RSPCA.

The RSPCA North-East Region includes Yorkshire. Animal cruelty levels in the Tees Valley, County Durham and Northumberland are shockingly high, but your report does not help in also attributing cases from West Yorkshire, East Yorkshire and North Yorkshire to our region.

In fact, of the investigated reports in the RSPCA North-East region, 34 per cent were in West Yorkshire, 18 per cent in South Yorkshire, 17.5 per cent in East and North Yorkshire, 15 per cent in Cleveland and South Durham and 14 per cent in North Durham, Tyne and Wear and Northumberland. - Vic Wood, Yearby, Redcar.

PEOPLE shocked by Maff's recent activities should wake up. Mindless killing is what Maff is good at. It has been doing it for years to badgers in the South-West.

This is on the chance that creatures spread TB in cattle - an idea both daft and irresponsible which about sums MAFF up. Badgers belong in our countryside and our hearts.

Please write to your MP demanding protection for them. - Tony Kelly, Crook.

LANGUAGE

AS A small child, I can recall my aunt in response to my request to leave the table replying stiffly: "You can, but may you?"

Such niceties are lost on today's children. Even so, I join with others in regretting the general acceptance of slip-shod grammar and speech, particularly in the media: the trouble is, it is so easy for us to become accustomed to it and to use it without thinking.

Noticeable nowadays is the use of the following: "comprises of", used by estate agents; "bored of", used, surprisingly, by a number of broadsheet journalists, as are nouns as verbs; and "lay" instead of "lie" - always a tricky one.

Also common is "providing" as in "providing he can come up with the cash", instead of "provided"; and "of who" when "whom" is required. One would not "of he".

"Consensus" does not need the addition "of opinion" - it is inherent in the word.

"It looks like", as in "it looks like it's going to rain" seems widespread. The use of "as though" or "as if" is becoming rare, but "was sat" for "was seated" and "was stood" for "was standing" seems endemic.

Punctuation I shall leave in the safe hands of Mike Amos. Long live colons, semi-colons, hyphens and apostrophes: and of course Mr Amos.

I shall end with an example that Mike has had wind of, as it were, before: Seen by my cousin in a Middlesbrough food store was the legend "no dog's". - A Gibbon, Darlington.

How I agree with Mrs Newell of Aiskew and M Dunstone of Darlington (HAS, June 25).

My objections are to unnecessary words like "at this moment in time" which means now. "By and large" - how can that be translated? - M Graham, Toft Hill.

TOBACCO ADVERTISING

A BAN on tobacco advertising has clearly taken on symbolic importance for everyone involved in the war against smoking and, as a result, some important arguments have been overlooked.

Government has a responsibility to educate people about the health risks of smoking but banning the promotion of a legal product is a step too far. A ban would set a precedent that could extend to other products such as alcohol, fatty foods and fast cars.

All the evidence suggests that teenagers start smoking because of peer pressure and a desire to appear "grown up" - advertising has nothing to do with it. Advertising was banned in the old Soviet Union but that didn't stop a large majority of the male population from smoking.

Most importantly, prohibiting tobacco advertising will be counter-productive. It will remove all those Government health warnings from thousands of billboards, magazines and newspapers and, as a young smoker myself, it is those warnings - not the obscure images featured in the advertisements - that stick in my head. - J Gaffikin, FOREST (Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco), Palace Street, London.

VANDALISM

I HAVE just read (Echo, June 26) about the vandalism at Scotton, Catterick Garrison. Parish councillor Ken Lambert says in the article: "Most of us know who is responsible, but they seem to think they can get away with it."

What Ken should have said is they know they WILL get away with it. The police keep telling the public to report vandalism but what is the point when they don't do anything about it? If your property gets vandalised you don't even get a visit from the police, only a letter telling you they are dealing with it.

How can they be dealing with it? If someone had bothered to come straight out they may have caught the culprits. The police don't want to bother with the new anti-social laws because it is too much work.

The council tax that is paid to the police should be refunded or spent on private security, which I am totally against, but would be better than the standard of policing that we are getting now. - T Amos, Colburn, Catterick Garrison.

INDIAN VISIT

IN NOVEMBER I shall be taking a party of (mostly) ex-servicemen on a return visit to Northern India, where we served during the Second World War. We shall visit Delhi, Agra, Kanpur (formerly Cawnpore) and Nani Tal, in the Himalayan foothills.

This will be a repeat of a trip made in 1999 by a party of 14 including two ladies. We will again visit the Military Cemetery at Delhi (to which the bodies of over a 1,000 servicemen who had died during the War were moved after Indian Independence) and place Remembrance Crosses on the graves of former comrades known to us. We will do likewise for any other graves notified to us, before photographing them.

All are welcome to come on the trip, which is being arranged through SAGA. Please contact me for more information. - FR Johnson 38 Tunstall Rd. Stockton T518 5LX. (01642) 656034.

SAHARA CHALLENGE

ARE you looking for your next challenge, something with more excitement, more thrills, more adrenaline?

The Sahara Challenge, taking place in February 2002, in aid of Mencap, is the ultimate event. It's going to be tough. It'll take guts, initiative, determination, stamina and teamwork.

It's a multi-discipline, seven-day endurance event involving a combination of mountain biking, running, scrambling, 4x4 off-road driving, navigation using a GPS and a mystery challenge.

Sahara Challenge is extreme. It's the ultimate challenge, It's unique.

If you're a runner or cyclist looking for your next challenge, then this is the one for you. If you haven't done anything like this before, Mencap will support you and help you achieve your ambition. You'll have to raise a minimum sponsorship and pay £300 deposit.

The Sahara Challenge is an excellent way to push yourself and test your fitness while raising funds to support people with learning disabilities fulfil their potential. Call 0845 977 7779