Letters: Animals' welfare

Sir: I am very much obliged to Mr Hart-Davis (report, Review, 7 August) and the correspondents who have shared with us the fruits of their research into the species "real country people".

I now know that they are uniquely altruistic and their sole concern is the welfare of others and the flora and fauna. In return all they ask is to earn a living in their chosen activity regardless of economic forces and to pursue their bizarre rituals free from persecution by their sworn enemies, "ignorant townies".

I must admit that I had always thought of them as irrational, selfish and two-faced, much like other homo sapiens.

Appleton, Cheshire