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WHAT a lovely piece in last week's GulfWeekly by Helen Blake in her Too Hot To Trot column about the Twin Palms ponies who, sadly, had to be put to sleep due to the threat of glanders.

Their loss must have been heartbreaking both for the owners and also the riders, young and old, to whom they were devoted and it is good to know these hard-working animals were so much loved.

I don't suppose we shall ever know how glanders came to enter the kingdom but, judging by the number of people I have encountered who have purchased sick animals from pet shops and souqs, with papers - if indeed they have papers - which seem to bear little resemblance to the creature's state of health, then it really is no surprise that Bahrain has been hit with serious disease.

What is, in fact, surprising is that there is not more illness, both animal and human, and it can surely only be a matter of time before something more serious than glanders occurs unless the government takes adequate steps to properly control the import of live animals to the island.

Personally, I would like to see live imports banned, both livestock for slaughter and other animals from the exotic to the every day, but I am realistic enough to know that, for various reasons, this is unlikely to happen. Therefore, the authorities have a duty to fully monitor those animals being brought in not only for the safety of the existing animal population but for the human population too. Liz O'Reilly, Um Al Hassam.