THE countryside is being ravaged by Foot and Mouth disease.

People have been led to believe that the outbreak is under control, or even over. Sadly, this is not the case. We are in fact slaughtering more animals now than at any time during the outbreak.

Instead the Government has done a great job in concealing the truth and massaging the figures.

This disease has torn the very soul out of the countryside. It has destroyed so much that we hold so dear.

We have been forced to witness terrible scenes of brutality and cruelty. Burning pyres, mass burial pits, mass slaughter, lorries with dead cattle falling from the back, and slaughtermen taking pot shots at our animals. Lambs have been born in, and are dying in, quagmires, yet no one can help them. Now we hear of stories of lambs and piglets being finished off with hammers. This is our country. Is this the best we can do in 21st century Britain? I am appalled to be a part of it. I am appalled to be part of a country where apathy allows us to turn a blind eye and ignore the suffering of both people and animals.

We need to ensure that people know what is going on. We need to bring this disease to a speedy conclusion. We need to end the barbaric slaughter and cruelty.

If any readers have been affected by what they have witnessed, or are suffering financially, I urge them to contact us. We want to establish a network of people opposed to the way the Government is currently handling the Foot and Mouth outbreak and work to help bring it to a speedy conclusion.

We can be contacted at 2, Mellish Way, Hornchurch, Essex RM11 2GU.

SUE BURTON