Readers' letters - September 8

We run a campaign group (www.catsmatter.org) which aims to raise awareness of cats on our roads and do something about the injustice to Britain’s most popular pet.

Recently, the British Veterinary Association (BVA) released statistics of cats involved in road traffic accidents, and the staggering figures reveal 635 A DAY are being treated in vets around the UK on each given day. Since the majority tend to go unrecorded, #CatsMatter fear this number to be at least double.

Currently, there are no UK laws for drivers to stop but we are liaising with MPs to change that.

We also involve ourselves in the aftermath of RTA incidents. There is no mandatory requirement for councils to scan the cats nor notify the owners. As it currently stands, many councils will collect the cat and send it straight to the local landfill site.

Many people view pets as an extension to the family and feel the loss of a pet, most finding it hard to move on. This is especially true if councils won’t let the owners have the closure they deserve.

We have created a petition which will target elected mayors and county council chief executives.

We not only demand all councils scan, we demand a shake-up of the entire system.

As little as one in 10 cats are scanned for a microchip.

We have had reports of owners making their way to landfill sites to search for their beloved pet – who was microchipped and whom the council should have scanned and then notified the owners. The system is a disgrace.

Change is needed NOW!

You can view our petition which has already gained 50,000 signatures. Once we hit the 100,000 mark, we will be notifying mayors and council chief executives. www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/977/402/320/council-mayor-scan/

Mandy & Tiya

#CatsMatter

Go for gold and help charity

You may not know but September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month (CCAM), and at CLIC Sargent, the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people, we are asking locals to get behind our campaign to raise vital funds and awareness.

For CCAM, we have

revealed the ‘hidden costs’ of cancer through the impact it has on the mental and emotional health of parents.

Our new research found that more than half of parents (63 per cent) said they experienced depression during their child’s treatment, more than a third (37 per cent) experienced panic attacks, 84 per cent experienced loneliness. Worryingly, less than 40 per cent of parents accessed support for managing stress and anxiety during their child’s treatment.

To show your support for these families during CCAM, you can get a gold ribbon by donating on our website. The money raised will help provide vital support for families of children and young people living with cancer who are affected by these

issues.

Get your gold ribbon today to show your support and help more families cope.

We are also inviting people to help us fight for change for young people with cancer and their families by becoming CLIC Sargent campaigners. This might involve signing a petition or writing to your MP.

For more information about Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and how to get involved, please visit: www.clicsargent.org.uk/ccam

Joe Burns

CLIC Sargent Fundraising and Engagement Manager for Greater Manchester & Lancashire

Let Diana rest

in peace now

I was a big admirer of Princess Diana and join the millions of people in saying her death was a terrible loss,

especially, as has been pointed out in the many tributes these last few weeks, to her two sons. However, enough is enough. People who barely knew her are jumping on the bandwagon and coming out of the woodwork with “memories”.

Let her rest in peace. We can look forward to her third grandchild and, perhaps if this is a little girl, the name Diana may again be a popular choice in memory of a loved grandmother.

Edna Levi

Address supplied