It was with great anticipation and excitement that my partner and I, together with our three children, set off for an afternoon at the Brighton and Hove Greyhound Stadium for some family entertainment last Sunday.

However, upon our arrival you can imagine our distress at having to run the gauntlet of a group of vocal, abusive and threatening protesters.

Of course, everyone is entitled to their point of view but to shout, “Shame on you for taking your children to watch animal cruelty” and “What kind of mother do you think you are?” is totally unacceptable. All three children were very upset at being verbally attacked.

The youngest, who was in tears, asked me: “Why were they being so horrible to us?”

I appreciate that some individuals feel strongly but instead of raising awareness of their cause and invoking empathy, their aggressive stance did quite the opposite.

I would like to praise Brighton and Hove Greyhound Stadium.

Everywhere you look they are promoting the greyhound adoption charity, with noticeboards providing information about dogs available. Their whole attitude is aimed at the welfare of the dogs.

The vet checked each one before it was able to race and I was thoroughly impressed.

At no time did any of the dogs appear mistreated or to be doing anything they did not want to do.

I will certainly be going again but hopefully next time the protesters will have found something more worthwhile to shout about and somewhere else to protest instead of at a family venue.

Stephanie Bayley
Gordon Avenue, Bognor