STRAY HORSES

THERE is no point in engaging a security firm to clear stray horses from the roadside if you have nowhere to keep them safe. Obviously the owners can't or won't care for them, so it is useless returning them to their homes.

How about finding a caring or responsible person with grazing land who is prepared to corral these poor animals for remuneration, the money being obtained from the former owners.

I only wish we could still put people in the stocks then the threat of being put in them might force the owners to pay up. Or how about chaining the horses' owners up at the roadside? - N Robson, Bishop Auckland.

REGARDING the stray horses in the Bishop Auckland area, why don't we tether the owners? Give police and the RSPCA powers to immediately remove the horses and re-home them with caring and responsible people. - P Savage, Northallerton.

I WRITE with regard to your recent articles on the tethering of horses. Although, as with everything, a few spoil it for the many, tethering is not as bad as it is made out to be.

I carry out commercial forestry contracts using horses and sometimes I have to tether my horses. In doing this I follow simple methods used by my friends and family to ensure the horses are free from damage and danger.

1 Horses all wear headcollars and neck straps, this ensures the horse is secured by head and neck.

2 A sturdy chain with swivels will prevent knotting and twisting.

3 A strong pin knocked right into the ground to prevent the chain wrapping itself around it or the horse rolling on it.

4 If tethering on a hill always make sure the horse can reach the bottom so should it roll it can then regain its feet.

5 Always supply clean drinking water.

Horses must be moved and/or checked twice daily.

Of all the thousands of horses tethered in the North-East I am sure it is only a small minority who keep making the headlines. - Mark Turnbull, Coxhoe.

PETER MULLEN

YET another biased article from Peter Mullen. He criticises Tony Blair for having an early election, but Prime Ministers have always chosen dates which they think will be advantageous to their party.

Margaret Thatcher twice called elections after four years - in 1983, one year after the Falklands, and in 1987, post-tax cuts and pre-recession. John Major went the full five years; in 1992, 18 months after the Tories dumped Mrs Thatcher and in 1997, when he was hoping for something to turn up.

Waiting lists and traffic jams have been with us for years and, as the Tories were in power for 18 years, we know where most of the blame lies. It could be argued a 6p cut in fuel tax would increase traffic - if it is not "absorbed" by the oil companies like the recent 3p cut.

He says we will be bounced into the euro, but the people will decide. The Tories "save the pound" is for four or five years only. It was the Tories who took us into Europe and signed up to the single market and Maastricht.

Peter Mullen could have mentioned the reduction in National Debt and the lowest inflation, mortgage and unemployment rates for years. Why didn't he? - J Graham, Esh Winning.

AS a fellow Christian I read the Rev Peter Mullen's column each Tuesday, but I must admit that of late I have begun to read with trepidation. I am beginning to wonder if he will ever write anything good about anybody. He must have had a very unhappy life to be so morose.

For some reason he particularly hates Tony Blair, a fellow Anglican who was educated at our own Durham Cathedral Choristers School. His article about Mr Blair is pure nonsense.

What annoys me is the fact that he writes in this newspaper which is famous for its editors, is staffed by award-winning journalists and photographers and that he writes about anything but "love thy neighbour".

I once read a letter describing Rev Mullen as your newspaper's weakest link. I agree with that comment. - J Scott, Easington.

TRANS-PENNINE

I WAS perturbed to read that the Trans-Pennine rail service was likely to be taken over by Connex. I use this line from Malton to Manchester only occasionally, but the trains are always punctual, clean and a delight to travel on. The snacks from the tea and coffee trolley are varied and reasonably priced and the crew is always helpful.

Why not leave things as they have been for many years - excellent? - L Greenhalgh, Pickering.

PERRY COMO

I WAS a fan of that fine singer Perry Como, who died recently. He belonged to a select band of really good crooners which included Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, Mel Torme and Matt Monro.

I am reminded of an amusing story I heard some years ago.

Bing Crosby's son, Gary, who was also a singer, had to ask his father if he could appear on Perry Como's television show. Bing replied: "Yea, that's all right, but tell him to give your Dad his voice back." - LD Wilson, Guisborough.

FLUORIDE

I WAS dismayed to read in your 'health supplement' (Echo, May 9) that the anonymous writer of the piece of tooth 'wisdom' is a fluoride pusher.

Contrary to the propaganda, it is now widely accepted among researchers who have studied the subject that fluoride plays no part in the protection or repair of decaying teeth.

The one undeniable fact, they would prefer to be kept quiet, is that the fluoride so used is industrial waste. It is collected from the scrubbers of factory chimneys. For years it has also been used as rat poison, as its toxicity is between that of arsenic and lead. Is this really what they want to put into children's mouths?

So why do they? Because fluoride waste is both costly and difficult to dispose of safely. The Americans (who else?) first came up with the idea of associating it with teeth so they could dispose of tons of the stuff through toothpastes and fluoridated water supplies.

Successive governments have regurgitated the same unproven propaganda that swallowing this toxic chemical is somehow good for us! - A Hall, Darlington.

HOSPITAL SERVICES

NEW name, old system. That is my view of the so-called University Hospital, Durham. My grandson, age 18 months, hurt his leg. The local hospital at Shotley Bridge said he needed an X-ray, so off to Durham he went at 9.30am. Both parents took a day off work. He was X-rayed at 4.30pm and home at 5.30pm.

So what's new at Old Dryburn; 15 minutes walk from the old car park at £4 a day. Will John Prescott pay for it? No way. New Labour wants me to vote for them? We are not going to vote for anyone unless we see some righteousness come into politics. - Bill Bailey, Consett.

FOOT-AND-MOUTH

THE scandal is now emerging that nearly a third of the confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain have proved negative (Echo, May 11).

All the distress caused to farmers will be doubled when they learn that their healthy stock need not have been slaughtered. What anger will be felt by the owners of surrounding farms who have also had their livestock needlessly culled.

When this dreadful disease is finally cleared from our land, let us hope that all who have made mistakes are humble enough to admit it and that full recompense is made to those who have suffered. - EA Moralee, Billingham.