Having read the article Pregnant woman in fear of hunt dogs' (Malvern Gazette, February 2), I feel I must comment.

Valerie Allfrey, senior joint master of the North Ledbury Hunt, said: "If you lay a trail and the wind blows, how do you stop it moving", as if this was some kind of justification for her hounds being out of control.

As someone who has worked dogs on trails for about 10 years, I'd like to educate Ms Allfrey.

Any trail you lay is automatically laid bearing in mind the wind direction and where that would go in respect of the dog following it.

If a trail is laid well in advance, then to know where the wind is coming from on that day is common sense. Since most of the hunts appear to be laying trails' just a few moments before the hounds are set off, lack of knowledge regarding wind direction is totally inexcusable.

All over the country people lay trails for dogs to track without these trails accidentally' crossing people's gardens, public highways or scaring pets and the public.

If the hunt cannot lay trails correctly to ensure a safe route then maybe it should not be trail hunting at all, or at the very least these hounds should be muzzled or kept on tracking leads to avoid them being out of control.

Mrs Y Street, Okehampton, Devon.