Whilst walking our dog on the beach, I noticed a group of people with a springer spaniel, which had just sat nicely at his master’s feet to have his lead put on. Two minutes later, the owner whacked the dog across the nose with the lead.

I was shocked and immediately called out: “No, don’t hit it.”

I was then treated to a mouthful about minding my own business – he’d been a dog owner for 40 years and had never been cruel etc, etc. The passing comment to me by the friend was: “The hardest thing to do is mind your own business.”

Well, apparently not. Children are starved and mistreated and neighbours don’t speak up; old people in homes are smacked and staff don’t report it; animals are hit and neighbours turn a blind eye. I thought cruelty to animals and people was the business of all of society – evidently not.

Kate Hallett
Chapel Lane
Osmington