Having just celebrated Easter, the time of resurrection and new life, I was appalled to read about the increasing use of exotic animals for food.

Not satisfied with customary meat products, people are seeking new tastes. It was reported in a national newspaper that a food outlet is selling pizzas with a topping of zebra as part of a new range of exotic flavours which includes buffalo, venison, kangaroo and crocodile.

Many people make a distinction between animals to be eaten and those which are not. For many people in the UK, horse meat would be taboo. However, bred only for food, 50,000 horses are transported in horrific conditions from Eastern Europe to Italy for slaughter.

Until the 1980s the only source of venison was the annual cull. Now 36,000 deer are bred for food and some are kept permanently indoors for their short lives.

The illegal trade in bush meat is thriving, especially the meat of endangered species. It is said that London is the centre of the international bush meat trade where a ton is confiscated every week.

Most animal lovers would, I think, be appalled at the suggestion of eating cats and dogs which are on the menu in Far Eastern countries.

For me, there is no distinction between animals used for food or not. They are all off my menu and as Oscar Wilde said: "Animals are my friends – and I don't eat my friends!"

Elizabeth Allison, Aylestone.