No circus

I refer to the letter "Primary school circus" (October 11) and would like to clarify some or rather most of the facts "witnessed" by Tijana Ostijic.

Had she bothered or taken the time to ask, Ms Ostijic would have found out that on that particular day, being the feast of St Francis, the school was holding a pet awareness day. Most children brought pets like birds, goldfish, and hamsters to school, which were blessed by Fr Simon Sciberras in a short ceremony in the morning. The ponies mentioned by Ms Ostijic were also pets.

The "ribbon" round the younger pony's head was nothing but a specially made leather harness which cost Lm120.

The rides the children were taking were not on its back but on a sulky, again, specially made for a pony its size. Had Ms Ostijic not been so blinded by her horror she would have seen the pony being given water at intervals. All this was happening on a special school activity day and all before noon.

My point is, before Ms Ostijic goes around throwing accusations of animal cruelty she should get her records straight. That particular pony is a much loved, well taken care of pet and I ought to know because it belongs to my father-in-law.