SIR: I was moved by Mr Ray Brooker's letter in which he tells us of the suffering of beagles, forced to smoke and monkeys being subjected to continuous intense pain. (Viewpoint, September 25).
He asks what God-given right have we to inflict such pain on these defenceless animals.
Mr Brooker made me feel ashamed of my attitude towards animal research.
I have never condoned unnecessary cruelty, but I have always considered animal research a necessary evil, without which an even greater evil would prevail, that of human suffering.
Mr Brooker says all animals are at the mercy of us humans. In the wild, animals are at the mercy of bigger, stronger animals, and are subjected to intense cruelty, from being eaten alive by others.
Animals are cruel by nature. They have to be in order to survive.
If God had not intended animals to be subjected to cruelty, he would surely have made all animals vegetarian.
Why then should He mind the cruelty that Mr Brooker says prevails in animal research?
Brian Derbyshire
Ribchester Grove, Bolton
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