MOST people reading the RSPCA figures showing an alarming rise in cruelty to animals must be concerned.

But when it comes to compassion for the animals who legally suffer in this country most turn a blind eye. Yet we could end their suffering without any expense to ourselves just by choosing how we live.

We could end the torture of animals used to test products like cosmetics, paint, oven cleaner, household chemicals etc, merely by looking for the not tested on animals' labels.

We could end the suffering of the millions of factory farmed animals and poultry by at the very least only buying free range or organic.

Better still why not join the millions of us who insist on living a cruelty free life with no animal or dairy on our tables. It's so easy - one can even buy a complete vegan Christmas dinner (ready for the oven), consisting of sliced turkey' with sausages' wrapped in rashers'.

Our table groans under the weight of a vegan feast which even the most hardened carnivore visitors find delicious.

I ATKINSON, Southbourne, Bournemouth.