WE were delighted to read in your paper (LET, January 24), that the young man who kicked and stabbed a hedgehog to death because he was in a bad mood has been convicted under the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act. We sincerely hope that other bad tempered yobs will take warning - cruelty to hedgehogs is not acceptable.

A H COLES, British Hedgehog Preservation Society, Knowbury House, Shropshire.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.