Howard Perry asserts that no animal welfare organisation would treat creatures in the way prisoners are treated in this country (Letters, August 28). That’s probably because, unlike many prisoners, animals don’t wish to consume drugs and alcohol or to inflict squalor and violence on their own community, which is very often the reason for their incarceration in the first place.

A prison is its inmates’ home and so they should be the ones made to keep it tidy, not the taxpayer. He’s right about one thing: the system is in total disarray and needs to be sorted out, starting with removing incompetent private firms like G4S.

But outside of that there needs to be a serious stepping up of discipline and security, including having every visitor and member of staff properly searched when they arrive for work to stop the flow of contraband. I’m yet to read of a story about drugs being smuggled into Guantanamo Bay.

Dr Scott Marmion, Woodthorpe, York