Dear Editor,

May I ask for reciprocal treatment for dog owners by being allowed to respond to your anonymous “A Gower Resident”.

I would point out that apart from – indeed in common with – roly-poly children, in the countryside there are many animals. In each case they “defecate and urinate” not particularly selecting a special plot, but each in their turn contributing to what is known as country life.

In this there is a natural awareness of accepting the rough with the smooth, and occasionally the use of the rack, and in all cases knowing the truth of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ famous lines, “Thank God for dappled things”.

Mind you, for those who find this difficult to understand, there is an excellent alternative some seven miles away. It is called Banbury.

Yours sincerely,
A lover of children, dogs and other animals.