[Gayle]

My cat has a regular yearly check up at the vets to ensure that it is healthy and not carrying any of these diseases that you mention - I am a responsible pet owner.

Perhaps a licence would be a good idea, do dog owners still need them? I wouldn't object to a licence but I don't think it would make a huge amount of difference, it would just mean that the irresponsible owners would continue to be irresponsible and that someone somewhere would have to enforce it - which they wouldn't.

It's not changing subject to talk about horse manure. I live on a road that doesn't have a pavement and every week I am faced with the dratted stuff in the road. If the horse owner could nicely guide his pet over my rhubarb I perhaps wouldn't object so much!