SIR: Regarding the letters from Robert Anderson and Andrew Rothwell, published in the Bolton Evening News on April 5. I entirely agree with everything they say about BSE (mad cow disease).

For Douglas Hogg to suggest that Britain slaughters millions of cows is horrendous and cruel. To take all these healthy cows to their death is quite unjustified and barbaric. After all, the majority of these cows will not have BSE. In fact, maybe none of them will have it. So why go to these extreme measures by ending the lives of older cows who have been happily grazing in the fields? Douglas Hogg is going too far with this issue.

Just because a few people have died of BSE does not justify this mass slaughter. If this disease is so infectious, then two-thirds of the population of Britain would be dead by now. After all - let's face facts - the majority of us have been eating beef most of our lives and have not contracted any disease from it. There are far more infectious diseases than BSE, such as AIDS, which is highly contagious and killing hundreds of people each year. So why all this publicity about BSE? The Government should get their facts right before going to such extreme measures.

Mrs J Spencer,

Belmont Road, Bolton.

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