ALTHOUGH Mr Tim Pinney is a prolific letter writer, he has consistently failed to present an eloquent or factual argument to justify hunting. Instead, he has constantly fallen back on personally attacking any dissenting voice.

However, his odious attack on Ms Knittel in last Friday's edition of the Evening News must not go unchallenged.

That woman as he refers to her is five foot two inches in height but has the heart and soul of a lion. Her crime in his eyes is to speak for the voiceless and defend the defenceless, which she does with courage, refusing to be intimidated.

Last year, while monitoring a hunt, a six-foot-two-inch tall male hunt supporter physically assaulted Ms Knittel. This is on police record.

We have never sought to make capital of such incidents as we have preferred to oppose hunting on the factual evidence gained over years of hunt monitoring which shows hunting with dogs to be viciously cruel and morally deficient.

This evidence is available to all via the League Against Cruel Sports which has video footage that when shown to MPs persuaded 411 to vote to total ban hunting with dogs.

Civilisation starts when the strong accept the need to protect the weak. Ms Knittel knows this, the hunting fraternity never will, which is why civilised societies pass and observe laws which prevent the perpetration of cruelties on the weak and defenceless.

PAMELA BOOKER,

Drakes Broughton,

Pershore.