This little piggy
Sir: Not since Charles Moore suggested that dogs could not go to heaven because they do not possess souls have sentiments so cruel to the animal kingdom been expressed in The Spectator. William Cash's account of a siege engine flinging a dead pig through the Shropshire countryside (`He flies through the air . . .', 4 May 1991) is a trivial account of a cruel joke played out by the wealthy landowner, Hew Ken- nedy.
The end of the porcine projectile's jour- ney Cash describes as 'exploding in drama- tic Challenger style'. The truth is even less agreeable. The sow was pregnant and her piglets were scattered through the air. In the past, Kennedy has used a dead horse as a missile. Interestingly, Cash has omitted to mention the reports I received of his father, the Tory MP Bill Cash, who was to be found during the day hiding behind a tree watching at least some of the proceed- ings.
At a time when the disposal of dead carcases on farmland is becoming in- creasingly problematic, I do not think it is helpful to denigrate the fate of livestock by means of 'Lord Snooty' style activities. But I am sure Cash senior will be happy to point out that if in future Kennedy moves dead.carcases from one farm to another for this solcalled scientific experiment, he will be breaking the law.
Rory Knight Bruce
Editor Londoner's Diary, Evening Standard, 2 Derry Street, London W8
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