Nell Frizzell’s article rang true in every respect (Why are pet owners more popular than parents?, 4 April). I appreciate that food outlets have suffered or closed since the pandemic, but canines of any size are apparently now welcomed in most. I tread warily through cafes, worried I will step on a dog’s tail or paw and incur the owner’s fury. And woe betide you if you challenge a cafe proprietor or dog owner – totally terrifying.
Julia Edwards
Winchester
• A friend from the US attended St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, in the early 1970s. He and his wife came on the QEII and brought their pet skunk (Pass notes, 29 March). It had been de-skunked – that must have been legal then. I presume it needed to be rabies-free.
Sheila Bradford
Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester
• Your footnote on Terence Smith’s article (4 April) describes him as a “former armed robber”. Does that mean, then, that we should describe all convicted criminals in the past tense, eg a “former murderer”?
Ken Pugh
Dinas Powys, Vale of Glamorgan
• The war against wee (The war against wild toileting: is there any way to stop people weeing – and worse – in the street?, 5 April) has biblical authority. See 1 Kings 21:21: “Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall…” There are several other references in Samuel and Kings.
Meic Goodyear
Lewes, East Sussex
• Next time you meet someone who doesn’t like “sharing plates”, or tapas-style meals, ask them if they are an only child (Letters, 4 April). They usually are.
Davina Jones
Durham
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
