SIR - January 29 signals the start of Chinese new year, traditionally a time for luck and new beginnings. However, luck has sadly run out for the 18 million ducks that are slaughtered each year in the UK to supply both the restaurant and supermarket trade.

Almost all of these ducks are from factory farms, housed in cruel and wholly unnatural conditions. Farmed ducks are close relatives of mallards, the brown ducks and handsome green-headed drakes you see on every pond.

Like them, they have evolved to eat, swim, dive, clean and play in water. Water is the basis of their life. In today's stinking factory farms, where 10,000 birds are often crammed into one shed, they never even see water, except in their drinkers.

Also like their wild cousins they would love to fly at 50mph, choose a mate and live for 15 years or more. Fly? Some can hardly walk because of leg deformities. There's no mating and life ends brutally after just seven weeks.

Happily, you can help restore freedom to Britain's favourite bird. Next time you fancy a Chinese, opt for a healthy, animal-friendly veggie dish and ask your local Chinese restaurant to stock vegetarian 'mock duck.' Or visit www.via.org.uk/recipes/

chinese for more lip-smacking, cruelty-free ideas.

For information on the campaign against duck factory farming, contact Viva!, 8 York Court, Wilder Street, Bristol BS2 8QH 0117 944 1000, email infor@viva.org.uk

D SINCLAIR,

Malvern.