A GLOBAL SPANISH PROBLEM

Dear Sir, HAVING read the recent articles on animals and in particular the one by Selina Scott I think that she deserves praise in bringing this subject to people's attention. However, after just returned from Girona I wonder if this is more of a general Spanish problem. We were staying in a reasonably affluent area of villas most of which appeared to be unoccupied. Certainly the one next us was for sale and had two dogs who far from being guard dogs were basically just desperate for some affection. They were watered and fed but the state of their surroundings was something else. Other dogs on other villas were just kept on small chains and never seemed to be let loose. So, maybe the problem is not totally confined to Majorca but is a more general one. Stuart R. Allsop, by E-mail. I agree with the letter from Selina Scott about the sorry state of animal welfare on this beautiful island and how Majorca's image as a wealthy Mediterranean playground does not sit well with the primitive conditions many animals endure. Earlier this year a group of mothers took our children for an outing to the Safari-Zoo in Sa Coma to the north of the island. What we saw there left us extremely depressed and disillusioned. DESPITE taking photos and promising to complain to someone, none of us did anything at the time as we then realised that we didn't have a clue who to approach. Admittedly it was not the best time of year, but the animals looked dejected and the conditions stark, cold and concrete a far cry from the safari-zoo's I have visited in the UK where an effort is made to recreate their natural environment. The trees, grounds and cages were crawling with processional pine caterpillars which, for me, was a sure indication of the general neglect considering their danger to children and animals. It was also pretty unpleasant to see a petrified rabbit stuck in a cave with a python - just waiting to be eaten alive. It might be reality but do the owners not realise that this is hardly the kind of thing that five and six-year olds with rabbits for pets want to witness! I believe the children of Majorca and the millions of tourists who visit every year deserve better than this, and to charge people to pay what we saw in an insult. I endorse Selina Scott's call for a full scale investigation into the entire issue of animal welfare on Majorca and hope it will begin with an inspection of this Safari-Zoo.