IN RESPONSE to Mrs M Pickering's query (Letters, April 19) as to whether any religion has an animal sanctuary, may I suggest the Catholic Study Circle for Animal Welfare?

This subject is neglected and misunderstood by many people, not least by Catholics and fellow Christians, which is why this society was formed in 1929 in London.

Subsequently, it founded a magazine, The Ark, in 1937.

The Ark receives contributions of articles, poems and photographs from knowledgeable people, belonging to both large and small specialist societies, on vivisection, intensive farming, blood sports, bull fighting, trapping for fur, whaling, environmental pollution and destruction, vegetarianism and other animal welfare topics.

Regrettably, even though it has a worldwide membership, the society - open to all - has such a low profile that very few clergy and laity are aware of its existence, or of the Pope's proclamation in 1990 that animals, too, like man, have souls, created by God when he breathed the spirit of life into all creatures.

The society's address is 39 Onslow Gardens, London E18 1ND.

J A MARSDEN, Scarborough Road, Blackburn.

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