THEY say that hate is a negative feeling, but hate is exactly what I have felt for the owners of pets, whom I have read about this week in the papers, who have been convicted of three horrific cases of animal abuse.

The pain and terror these animals went through is too terrible to contemplate and, when I have, it has left me feeling sick and upset.

How solicitors can defend such monstrous owners is beyond me. Magistrates presiding over these cases should ban all such owners for life every time. The RSPCA wants better legislation to combat cruelty; they should be given it without question.

Mrs W Carter,

Marston Crescent,

Acomb, York.

Updated: 09:26 Thursday, October 27, 2005