IT is small wonder there is talk in parliamentary circles of an overhaul of Britain's farming industry. It has taken sickening images of burning pyres of animals lined up for slaughter. This has convinced a majority of the public that animal agriculture has become a violent, cruel and profit-driven industry.

The same holds true for the health and environmental implications of intensive animal rearing and sloppy slaughter practices -- first BSE, then swine fever and now the foot and mouth epidemic.

The general public is beginning to realise exactly how cruel and unsustainable current intensive farming practices are.

SHEILA BRENNAN (Mrs),

Bombay Street, Blackburn.