RE letter from Kelly Slade ‘Go Meat Free’ (SA, July 16).

What a good idea, giving up meat for a day. Why not a whole week? If the benefits are so wonderful think how much improved our world would be!

Since the farmer could no longer sell his meat he would then cull all his flocks. Having then got rid of cows, pigs and sheep, we could then do away with horses. After all we do not need them to plough our fields or pull wagons any more.

As there are so many starving people in Africa perhaps we had better start on the elephants next, closely followed by lions and tigers. Better head over to Australia and get rid of the kangaroos while we’re at it. Goodness knows how much methane they are pumping out. Perhaps polar bears after that?

What should we do away with next? Well since human beings are the biggest polluters of all, maybe we should then cull a few million of them as well!

That leaves a much pleasanter world populated mostly by insects. I am sure the carbon emissions, greenhouse gases etc, will have dropped considerably but that is all to the good, surely?

Seriously is that the kind of world we want for our children, where the only farm animals they see are in picture books or in virtual reality? If we really did all give up eating meat no farmer would bother to keep the animals alive.

Incidentally, I do not eat much meat anyway, but I think vegans and vegetarians do need to think things through properly before exhorting us to all follow suit.

(Mrs) L WILSON Leslie Close Freshbrook Swindon