I READ the remarks of Mrs J Isherwood (Letters, September 29) on kangaroo killing with interest. Living in Australia - although I originate from Burnley and worked for many years in Blackburn - I must point out that her view is misleading.

I have been working for some time with an environmental group in Western Australia attempting to raise awareness about an environmental disaster caused by the land being cleared for farming use earlier this century.

The introduction of European farming methods and the rearing of European animals - cattle, sheep, etc - has had a devastating effect on the environment here.

Animals which were introduced from Europe and are now proliferous in the wild, pollute water holes and are the cause of the disappearance of native species uniquely found in Australia.

The raising of beef cattle in an environment not suited to it has had far-reaching consequences. Radical environmentalists actually advocate the farming of kangaroos as an alternative to rearing imported animals as they are far more suited to the development of sustainable agriculture. I deplore the inhuman treatment of any animal, and if animals are to be slaughtered, then this must be within humane guidelines.

As a vegetarian for 20 years I have had to rethink some of my own conceptions since living in a very different environment and I think this issue is rather more complex than Mrs Isherwood suggests.

DAVID CARSON, Ommanney Street, Hamilton Hill, Western Australia.

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