Hurrah for veganism and Victorian sewers | Letters

Rev Canon Dr Rob Kelsey on how Victorian engineers can inspire us to make structural changes in animal welfare and Jennifer Jenkins on children’s food choices. Plus a letter from Sheila Cole As a vegan of nearly 40 years, I agree with much of what Dean Weston says about animal welfare (Letters, 30 December). But as a former civil engineer, I cannot overlook the massive category mistakes in his assertion that the government’s animal welfare strategy “treats animal suffering the way Victorian engineers treated cholera. Add a valve here, a filter there, and never question the sewer itself.” Victorian engineers did not “treat” cholera, but were arguably more effective than the medical profession in dealing with the disease. They reduced the prevalence of cholera precisely by constructing adequate sanitation. “The sewer itself” was the solution, not the problem.