“Humanity Dick” (real name Richard Martin), who got the Cruel and Improper Treatment of Cattle Act that you mention in your briefing (What is the true cost of meat?, 7 May) passed in 1822, was the owner of Ballynahinch Castle in Connemara.
In the middle of Ballynahinch Lough there is a small island; Humanity Dick used to have anybody he found mistreating animals rowed out there and marooned until they repented of their crimes. He was particularly hard on anybody who mistreated donkeys it seems.
He kept a welcoming house but mortgaged much of his estate to do so, and died in much reduced circumstances. The castle is now a rather splendid hotel.
Mike Harding
Cloon, Co Galway, Ireland
• Your perceptive briefing is reinforced by one remarkable statistic. If one considers all land-based mammals by weight, humans account for almost one-third and domesticated animals, notably pigs and cattle, account for almost two-thirds. Wild animals constitute just 4.5% of all terrestrial mammals, so it is hardly surprising that one quarter of all mammals are under threat of extinction. Humans are not only consuming all of the world’s resources. Animals that are bred to feed us are pushing all other species to the margins.
Dr Robin Russell-Jones
Chair, Help Rescue the Planet
