THERE'S been a blitz of letters about animals lately in this paper.

Both our own Parliament and the EU parliament deal with issues of animal welfare so it's best to ask your questions to both of these.

I think we need to know the Government's stance on animal cruelty.

So, what does your MP and the new government think about the repeal of the hunting bill? What's their position on intensive farming? What's their position on animal experimentation? This latter is very important as the number of cruel, painful experiments on animals rose under Labour.

Science tells us the best way to predict a medicine's effect on humans is to work with tissues, cells, computer studies or micro-dosing.

Animal testing is a backward step; we should be embracing the new science.

What's the Government's position on the recent scandal about cruelty in abattoirs?

And finally, why does the Government continue to support Huntingdon Life Sciences, the torture chamber for animals? And why try to stop people protesting against the animal experimentation centre at Oxford University?

We share the world with animals who are sentient beings that feel pain, sorrow or happiness just as we do. We have to respect them.

Dr Haris Livas-Dawes,

Westbourne Avenue, Hull.