Letter: Down at heel

THE ANTICIPATED assertion by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that if quarantine restrictions are replaced by pet passports the costs should be borne by the pet owner because they must be "well- heeled" to be going abroad is a notion of such utter fatuity that it could only have come from MAFF ("Quarantine laws to be eased", 26 July).

It is precisely because some people are not "well-heeled" that they would like to be able to take their dog with them. In France it is possible for two people to stay in a comfortable hotel for as little as pounds 12 per night - one does not need to be well-heeled to afford that. However, one does need to be well-heeled to be able to afford the cost of putting a dog into kennels: between pounds 6.50 and pounds 12 per day.

C Crofton-Sleigh

Sarre, Kent