AFTER reading the article in the March 23 edition about the boy aged just 13 who violently kicked and attacked the pet rabbit belonging to Hobson's Nursery, I find it amazing that for so-called legal reasons he cannot be named.

I was also shocked to read that the defending solicitor Henry Hills said it was a one-off incident and this boy loved animals. I bet he would not leave him alone with his pet dog. If that were not covering over the cracks what is?

If the names were printed and we all knew who these people were, it might make them reform - name and shame - but it would also give the rest of the public a choice of whether our children would like to choose them as friends.

I would like to know if my children were hanging around with a child such as this one. I think he must have mental health problems and need specialist care. He started with animals. His next move could be humans. What would Henry Hills call it then - bad luck?

I have a rabbit and find it a very pleasurable little pet. Whether it's a dog, cat, bird, horse or any animal, we should give animals the love and protection that they deserve.

This episode cost this boy's parents £20. It might have cost his parents £4 had it been a person. This boy played the system and got away with it. His parents paid the bill. This will not hurt him in any way. I believe he will not always be that lucky, as the man who broke into farmer Tony Martin's property found out to his cost.

CONCERNED ANIMAL LOVER