I have failed to respond to Mrs Allison's latest jibe ("Have carnivores been silenced?", Mailbox, June 11) because I have been off-line for a while and because it is fruitless to argue with someone who is fanatical about their subject and not open to reason.

I have said what I have to say – that humans are omnivorous creatures and are equipped to be so by nature and inheritance; that most of the arguments for vegetarianism are spurious; that the animal welfare/factory farming issues are exaggerated by the millions (yes, not thousands, as I previously wrote, incorrectly) of chickens reared intensively; and that most animals are reared with a high regard for their welfare for good financial reasons – they do better if they are treated well.

The moral issue is, as your readers will know from my previous letters, that we should strive to rear animals well and kill them humanely with as little stress as possible, something that was made more difficult by the EU legislation which caused the closure of nearly all of the smaller, local abattoirs.

You will be happy to hear that I have nothing to add – on this subject at least!

Wendy Warren, South Kilworth.