The bloke who nailed that dog to a cross must have been temporarily insane. It is no use calling him all the names under the sun because nobody in his right mind would do that kind of thing. I have no doubt that the man needs help today before tomorrow.

Animals are there to be loved not tormented, just like I loved Yogi Bear... Yogi came to me when he was three and a half years old and we loved each other at first sight. He was a massive, furry white cat with patches of brown. O how I loved him. He used to sleep beside me on my bed and never once did he move from the position he was in.

In May of last year he was diagnosed as having diabetes mellitus and my world came crashing around me. When you live alone like I do, you fear the death of a pet more than ever. I took him to a hospital for animals but they could do nothing for him; in fact they wanted to put him to sleep twice but I refused.

Yogi Bear became blind and I took him home after I had spent hundreds of euros at the hospital. He became a shadow of his former self and hardly ate anything. Yogi died on the second day of June.

He was a very deeply loved cat, so different to that poor dog which must have suffered such pain being nailed to a cross. I have two more cats now named Billy and Snoggy but nobody can ever replace my Yogi. He holds a special place in my heart.

■ Valerie Borg

Valletta