SIR - I have never understood how any human being could mistreat or be cruel to another living creature, be it man, beast or bird.

So to read the article "Chickens boiled to death in water tank" (T&A, August 31) made me feel sick and extremely angry.

I first thought I'd mistakenly picked up a copy of the Korean Times, but to find out it was the local paper about a British city's abattoir made it all the worse, and the firm had already been prosecuted over a year ago for leaving birds in cages in the sun until the lot had died of heat and suffocation.

Surely if this inhumane act had been carried out by anyone else at home they would have been banned from ever having animals or birds.

A fine was all that was given, the second one for untold suffering to chickens.

How many more times is this going to happen before the place is closed down or taken over by someone who at least has a speck of humanity and kindness?

Jenny Sampson, Rossmore Drive, Allerton