Time to bring back the 
dog licence?

SETTLE is a wonderful place to live – or so I thought until a few days ago.

Out on a constitutional, I met a good friend who was not in the best of humours. He told me that he had been walking alone for but one hour and during that time had counted no less than 46 bags of dog mess left in hedges, the gaps in dry stone walls, in fact anywhere but the poo bins with which Settle and the locality is well provided. As he was not in possession of a strong plastic bag, much less the wherewithal to pick up the muck up, they are still there.

Anyway why should he?

This has set me thinking. I am old enough to remember when there was a dog licence – I think 7/6d per annum (37p these days). Is it not about time that this was reintroduced at a more realistic figure, say £250 per annum? Clearly there would be exceptions, blind people being the obvious one. Now before dog owners start sending me hate mail, let me say it is not going to happen. Quite simply if this came before Parliament it would be chucked out.

Politics is about being in power, as we are all well aware. A dog licence debate would enrage, as I understand it, potentially a tenth of the population so no political party is going to stick their neck out unless of course there were a terrible outbreak 
of rabies.

I freely admit to not being a domestic animal lover though I do enjoy wild animals, birds and other forms of life found in the countryside if you look hard enough.

From: Dick Lindley, Normanton.

I WAS delighted to read in your excellent newspaper (The Yorkshire Post, February 2) an article by your agricultural correspondent, Ben Barnett, regarding Liz Truss, Environment Secretary.

At long last we have a member of the Cabinet courageous enough to admit that British agriculture is being severely disadvantaged and damaged by a plethora of idiotic directives and rules emanating from the EU.

Congratulations to Liz Truss for her outspoken honesty, a rare commodity indeed.

From: Barrie Crowther, Walton, Wakefield.

CRUELTY to animals at the Thirsk abattoir is only the tip of the iceberg concerning meat for food in Great Britain. Why, in a Christian country are most slaughter houses halal? Where are the RSPCA in all this? Not a word. Time this practice was banned in this country.

From: Karl Sheridan, Selby Road, Holme on Spalding Moor.

I FEEL thoroughly disgusted by the supermarkets selling British milk at ridiculously low prices. Their marketing strategy is flawed if they think that this loss leader encourages people in purely to buy cheap milk, because it doesn’t, at least not in our family’s case.

We desperately need to maintain our dairy herds. Price wars between supermarkets are one thing but when their efforts force dairy farmers out of business that is another.

From: Andrew Brownlie, East Yorkshire and Derwent Area Ramblers.

GORDON Hawcroft (“Why farmers can win at politics”, The Yorkshire Post, January 24) brought a smile to a gathering of Ramblers in York last Saturday.

The recent news of local government cuts that will mean the deterioration of maintenance to footpaths has been a major cause for concern to many countryside groups who spend long hours attempting to keep access open. Mr Hawcroft suggests farmers should “actually walk the local footpath network and see what issues there are”.

The Ramblers this year celebrate 80 years of existence and one of their main objectives is to inspire people to use the footpaths that are an essential part of our heritage. Farmers are key to helping to preserve this treasure and as Mr Hawcroft says: “Waymarks are essential to give walkers confidence and keep them where they should be”.

Just a little annual attention to signs and paths can make all the difference. He writes: “By working together we can ensure our rural heritage is enjoyed by all.” We could not agree more.

In honour 
of Churchill

From: Malcolm Wilson Bucknall, Hornsea.

A TRIBUTE to Sir Winston Churchill (Tom Richmond, The Yorkshire Post, January 31). His orations stirred our nation’s hearts, though often rebuked in political fields. Steadfast and true he never faltered, and in the end, he saw us through those dark days of conflict and despair.

Time turns the pages of truth in the chapters of history and from the well of his pen, came words written with strength and dignity. His bulldog spirit lingers still in the corners of power, respected still by those who remember.

Rant from the distant past

From: Russ Wilkinson, Thornton, Bradford.

IT is not often that a letter makes me feel the need to respond but Philip Smith’s rant against the ordination of the first female bishop (The Yorkshire Post, January 31) annoyed me tremendously. The Scriptures were written in the context of a male dominated society in which it was inconceivable that a woman could rise to a position of power or influence. Times have changed!