I WAS very sorry to read the newspaper report about farmers Gerald and Paul Jones. I have been a dairy farmer for most of my life and I have known the Jones family for many years and I am quite sure they would not have been deliberately cruel to their animals. It would be completely against their principles and also they would know like any livestock farmer that if you want to run a profitable business the last thing you want to do is to be cruel to your animals.

They may possibly have been unwise in some of their procedures but I am confident that they would have had the   best interests of their animals as their objective.

On a number of occasions in the past I have taken many people to their farm to see the goats and they have always seemed well cared for and the visits have been enjoyed by all.

– Theo Cracknell, Newent.