Madam,

I am writing to express how deeply shocked and distressed I was to learn from your report the details of the terrible acts of neglect and abandonment of 85 helpless and vulnerable cows recently uncovered by animal health inspectors at Horeb.

These totally dependent and defenceless animals were left for weeks in filthy, atrocious conditions, with living animals heaped upon dead carcasses, denied access to water and food, and left to starve to death in what can only be described as a vision of hell.

The farmer Richard Cooper, claimed in his defence, to have been suffering from depression at the time.

This is a pathetic excuse for such horrendous acts of cruelty. One telephone call to the RSPCA helpline would have secured sanctuary and a safe future for these innocent lives.

Whilst I applaud the animal health inspectors’ action in investigating this case, the fact that their intervention came too late to save the lives of these animals surely calls for more vigilant and stringent statutory inspections of farms, which are, by their very nature, often hidden from public view and scrutiny.

I am also shocked and outraged that the Coopers received only suspended sentences for their terrible crimes.

The criminal justice system has once again failed to deliver justice for these innocent animals.

Yours etc, Rebecca Bell, New Quay.

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