The unfortunate incident regarding the woman who was convicted of poisoning her neighbour's cat (March 5) struck a chord with me since I happen to be a bird-lover as well as a gardener.

Cats are, I'm sure, delightful creatures to those who like them but, to many of us, they are a considerable nuisance.

They make a mess in other people's property, they scratch up seedlings, they sharpen their claws on my fruit trees, thereby letting in disease, they yowl outside our windows at night, keeping us awake, and, above all, they kill birds.

Of course, it is natural for cats to do all these things but what is not at all natural is their numbers.

In the wild state, what is natural is one cat per square mile. In most built-up areas it's a matter of hundreds per square mile, which is overwhelming for the bird population, already under stress.

Since they are the easiest animals in the world to train in using a litter-tray, it would seem only fair for owners to do just that.

None of us wants a neighbour from hell, nor, I'm sure, to be one, so cat owners should train their cats, assume responsibility for their hygiene and keep the peace.

-W A Dixon, Falcon Crescent, Flitwick, Beds