Ian Harding

Nearly drove off the road this morning, when they announced on the radio that some lady traveller wished to debate the unacceptable number of `unsheltered` cattle and sheep in the fields she passed each day.

Are we really a nation of animal lovers or should we all be certified.

Harem

Perhaps she would be happier if the cattle and sheep were 'housed' the same way they are here - shut and tethered in a barn or concrete lean-to?

guinevere

ian i think most of us should be certified ! and she must be at the front of the queue !

bobthenob

l agree with the woman,of her concern,about the animals in the fields with no shelter,exposed to the forces of nature.
When l see the animals in the fields,with no trees to shade them from the rays of the sun,during the summer months,is a suffering towards these creatures,that can easily be avoided.Then there's the winter months,with the weathers cold biting winds,onto the animals without shelter,is creating suffering,since these animals cannot roam,because man has restricted their movements by fencing them in,leave these suffering animals exposed,to torture.
l look at things this way,if you were put in a field,with restricted space and movement,where there's no shelter,l'm sure you would cry out for something to be done about this suffering.
Shelter is an essentail part of every living creature on earth to avoid the distress, exsposure can cause.l agree with the woman,it should've been dealt with years ago.
To have a civil behaviour is to show compassion to all living things around us.

Ian Harding

Bob - Did you have a pitch on Speakers Corner by any chance ????

jcrian

Our sheep had the freedom of choice of being inside or out in the fields.If it was dry they would be outside and at the first sign of rain they would be inside.They didn't mind the cold but the rain........ no way if there was shelter.

The only time they were kept in was at lambing time,more for our benefit than theirs.A lot easier to check on them through the night rather than wandering around a field in the dark.When the lambs were 4 days old they again with the ewes had the freedom of choice of being out or in.Mind you the lambs preferred being in most of the time unless it was really sunny.

bobthenob

The thought did cross my mind,in the past.l know what reactions l would get from the public if l did stand on my soapbox,at speakers corners,expressing my strong views,and it just wouldn't be only the heckling,l will be dealing with,but a mob of people that just came out of the pub,that want to throw me to the ducks in the serpintine.
Being a keen enviourmentalist and a lover of nature,does have it disadvantages.

Gully Foyle

My donkey has a free choice, shelter or not. She often stands out in the rain entirely by choice. Back in the New Forest we had horses, donkeys and cows free to the elements and never did they beg for shelter in our perpetually open garage. Come on Bob!