I abhor cruelty towards animals. In fact, there are times when I prefer the company of animals to some humans. But I freely admit to be a hypocrite in that I eat meat and I enjoy it.  

Australia will never be a vegetarian society, at least not in our lifetime. However, it is well past time for the meat industry to be properly regulated in relation to its practices.

Many years ago I spoke to two men who worked at a slaughterhouse and they laughed as they told me how the pigs squealed in terror before their throats were cut or their heads smashed in with sledgehammers.   

Apart from a battlefield, a slaughterhouse is the closest thing to hell on Earth that you can imagine.   

The men who go to work there, day after day, killing and killing, become desensitised and dehumanised over time, so that in order to relieve their boredom they need to inflict unimaginable and ever more inventive methods of torment to prolong the lives of these animals before death finally comes.   

The greyhound industry almost pales into insignificance when compared to the horrors that take place daily in slaughterhouses around Australia.   

The time has come for governments to act, if they hope to retain any claim that they act in the best interests of our country, and our species as a whole.

In reply to Jacinta Allan (“Labor deserves the credit”, Bendigo Advertiser, November 28) I would like to thank you for drawing my attention to the fact that you and Bob Cameron, now chairman of Bendigo Health, were the ones responsible for the commencement the new Bendigo hospital. 

May I also point out to Ms Allan that her recommendation was for what was called at the time as an “inadequate” $528 million hospital (Bendigo Advertiser, November 19, 2010) which Labor wanted Bendigo Health to sign off on. 

Rather than rush through a building that would not serve the purpose, the Liberals took their time, did their homework and came up with what we actually have now, a $630 million world-class hospital, which I would not call buckling at the knees as you put it, as this project was fully funded with contracts signed by the Liberal government at the time. 

The reported demise of Nanga Gnulle is very sad. We have known Rob and Peg Green for many years and watched with much interest and admiration as they and their family together tackled the construction on their unique mud-brick home and garden with their own hands.

One memorable event held in their house in the 1970s was Kalinya Hospital Auxiliary’s money raising “Elizabethan Night”. We all dressed up in appropriate historical costumes and enjoyed home cooked fare of that period, including mulled wine! One special event of the night was a recitation of Chaucer extracts from the internal upper floor balcony.

Can the council please insist that if/when the developers decide to destroy this significant home, that care will be taken to safely extract some of its unique features? 

They include huge durable timber members from the ancient Axedale Railway bridge, historic doors from View Street’s ANA Hall and many other reclaimed historic materials.

Hopefully these can all be saved to live on in some future Bendigo building projects. Congrats to the Green family for their great achievements over four decades and heartfelt sympathy for what is now likely to happen to their dream property - in the name of progress.