Dubious claims (From Oxford Mail)

Dubious claims

8:00am Monday 21st December 2009 in Letters

GEMMA Davenport (Oxford Mail letters, December 11) might be interested in the following information: Claims that animal lovers put their passion on a higher level than the welfare of children imply that those who do not share the same passion for animals must therefore have a surplus of care and concern for child welfare.

This, however, does not concur with judicial statistics.

Criminal psychologists and the police have documented evidence proving that people who abuse or indeed support the abuse of animals are far more likely to commit acts of criminal abuse on children.

Further more, recent cases of child abuse and killing have revealed the perpetrator’s horrific treatment of animals prior to the attacks on the child.

This throws an entirely different light on the benign attributes of the Countryside Alliance and, of course, the Pro-Test animal vivisection supporters here in Oxford.

It appears from this evidence that those putting forward the flimsy hypothesis that animal welfare somehow equates with child neglect are merely defending their own dubious inclinations with a kind of pre-emptive strike.

IAN CHAMBERS, Woodlands Road, Headington, Oxford