Dogged respect

I write in response to the news that army sniffer dog Sasha is being posthumously awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal (your report, 29 April). To receive a medal is small compensation for a life involuntarily sacrificed.

Wars are waged by human beings, yet animals can get caught up in them. Animals know no nation and own no weapons, but humans always win in the undeclared war against them.

For animals, there are no Geneva Conventions and no peace treaty – just our mercy. Dogs such as Sasha are not instruments of war and are not ours to use and toss away like empty ammunition shells.

Emma Warner

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta)

All Saints Street

London