Letters to the Editor

We will always try to help sick, injured or distressed animals, but, as a charity with limited resources, we are forced to prioritise urgent calls and, on very rare occasions, are unable to attend.

We must provide care for those animals that are not protected by other agencies under existing legislation and will appeal to the public, other animal welfare organisations or relevant agencies to help when we cannot.

On this occasion Mrs Quinn's call to the RSPCA after the bank holiday weekend was allocated to the police, who have a statutory duty to take in injured stray dogs when the Council dog warden service is not operating.

The RSPCA has no legal powers when dealing with stray dogs and is bound by the law in the same way as the public.

Under the Environmental Protection Act, the finder of a stray dog must take it to the nearest police station, hand it in to a local authority warden service or fill in a police form saying they are willing to provide care for the dog for two days, after which time they become the legal owner.

If the dog warden service is unable to collect a stray dog that is seriously sick or injured and the finder cannot transport it to a police station, the RSPCA, where staff and resources allow, will collect the dog and take it to those authorities to receive treatment.

The RSPCA believes local authorities should operate a 24-hour dog warden service to cope with around 140,000 dogs straying each year.

Alan Wolinski, RSPCA Regional Manager in Yorkshire & the North East, Leeds 13.

SIR - I think it most disgusting that the Bradford Soup Run people who are working hard to give the less privileged a good meal have had someone take the actual "shelter" and all the utensils and everything that is required for the cooking of these meals.

They must have money to have cranes etc to lift this heavy shelter.

Surely someone saw or heard these criminals? All this is a great loss and needs to be quickly replaced.

Mrs J Whitrick, Frensham Drive, Hollingwood Lane, Bradford 7.

SIR - I read with interest the article "Caught in the Poverty Trap" (T&A September 11).

At least Bradford is figuring in some league tables this year should the football and rugby teams not come up to scratch.

I have to say "what a load of rubbish" - no pun intended - to the picture with the caption "Litter".

Litter is not another sign of deprivation, it is just a sign that there are some people in the area who give no thought to their immediate environment and dispose of their waste in this manner and are too lazy to walk a few yards to one of the famed wheelie bins or some other receptacle.

They also know that given enough press coverage and whingeing, a Council employee will come along and clean up the area for them.

Susan C Bowes, Falmouth Avenue, Bradford 3.

SIR - I was interested to read Prof. Anthony O'Hear's comments on immigration (T&A, September 5) and his claim that discussion of it was impossible. If he wants a "civilised discussion" regarding immigration in Bradford, then his reluctance to discuss his view with the T&A is strange.

British "values and institutions" have changed and adapted over time due to many factors, including the arrival of immigrant communities. To claim that immigrants challenge and somehow undermine "our" values is absurd.

Would that apply to the Irish immigrants who arrived in 19th century Bradford or the East Europeans who arrived earlier this century? The reality is that immigrant communities do assimilate into the larger community. Young Bradford Asians hold very different values than their parents and grandparents. This is due to living in (and assimilating) a British culture.

British history retains a central role in the National Curriculum. How its imagined absence reflects a decline in British values remains unexplained by Prof. O'Hear.

While tensions do exist, to portray communities as separate and distinct is disingenuous, and even dangerous. The reality is far more complex; with people working, learning, living and playing together.

David Perry, Summerbridge Crescent, Eccleshill, Bradford.

SIR - In Saturday's "North of Watford" Mike Priestley, writing about the controversy over the Siamese twins, describes the "unbridgeable gulf" between those who believe in leaving such dilemmas to "God's will" and those who "believe instead in the free will of men and women to make decisions... based on common sense and compassion."

There is indeed such a gulf - but certainly not between "Christians" on one side and "agnostics" on the other. The Christian faith (and, I would imagine, Islam too) is firmly on the side of the second way of thinking.

The Christian belief in God is precisely that he has given humanity "free will to make decisions" and that he expects us to make them with as much common sense and compassion as possible.

Of course, Christians may disagree on what "common sense and compassion" entail - but the principle remains that God has given us the responsibility of making our own decisions in the light of the ethical guidelines he has revealed to us and the marvellous capabilities he has implanted in us.

Rev John C Peet (Vicar, St John's United Church, Cononley and St Mary's Bradley).

SIR - In the late 1950s and early 1960s, I had the great privilege of being on the staff of what was then known as Albert Road Junior School, Saltaire. I then moved to the Headship of the primary school at Wilsden.

Now in my seventies, I look back to those days with delight and think of those children I taught, particularly the classes I had to "get through" the 11-plus! They were wonderful children with great potential.

Sadly, leaving the area for my native Staffordshire in 1967, I never knew what any of them did with their lives. I think this is true for most primary school teachers. They lose contact with the pupils they gave the first start to on the journey through life.

Could I appeal to any of those children who remember me, to drop me a line sometime and let me know what happened to them? It would make an old man very happy. As you see I have kept up with the times and have an E-Mail address!

R J Brown, 31 The Laurels, Ravenhill Terrace, Rugeley, Staffs, WS15 1BR

(e-mail: john.kit@vinweb.co.uk)

SIR - In response to your article on the Euro, more information may be gleaned on what effect the Euro could have on Britain's future sovereignty, Parliament and destiny, from:- Edward Barber, Treasurer and Membership Secretary, Labour Euro Safeguards Campaign, 5 William Paston Road, North Walsham, Norfolk, NR28 9EQ, (telephone 01692 402339).

Iain Morris, Caroline Street, Saltaire.