EVERYONE who detests what is happening to animals in Britain's abysmal factory farms and slaughterhouses now has a great opportunity to express their revulsion.

We all know that the suffering is indefensible and that there is an urgent need to end it. By supporting Viva's national campaign against factory farming you can take an important step towards doing just that.

Recent undercover investigations reveal the sad truth about Britain's welfare standards.

Viva! was filmed in 18 UK pig units over two years for its Pigs In Hell campaign. The evidence shows overcrowded, filthy conditions and sick and injured animals who have been left unnoticed.

It is a similar story on poultry farms. Chickens and turkeys spend their short lives grossly overcrowded, standing in wet and soiled litter which burns into their skin, causing painful ulcers.

Claims that killing is humane are also untrue. Viva! has filming inside slaughterhouses and their footage shows animals who are not properly stunned regaining consciousness whilst bleeding to death. How can we say that we are a nation of animal-lovers when we allow millions of animals to be reared and killed in such appalling conditions?

As so often happens in life, our actions come back to haunt us. Our institutionalised, mass abuse of animals has produced one disaster after another BSE, swine fever, foot and mouth, and wasting diseases. It has also created dangerous human diseases that are now spreading like wildfire antibiotic-resistant strains of salmonella, campylobacter and E. Coli.

Please show your support for Viva!'s campaign to end factory farming by signing an online pledge at www.factoryfarming.org.uk

You can also withdraw your support for animal abuse by going vegetarian. For more information and a free 'go veggie' pack, contact Viva! At 12 Queen Square, Brighton BN1 3FD or on (01273) 777688.

LUCY CRABB

Etchilhampton

Devizes