I keep seeing cross puppies being sold for as much as £300 and domestic kittens for £60.

Has the world gone mad?

When I was a child, if a dog had a night out on the tiles and gave birth to six or seven puppies, those puppies were called cross breeds and were given away to anyone who was soft enough to look at them.

Off we went home and told our mum and dad: "Look what we have been given."

Were we allowed to keep them? Nine times out of 10, no.

They went to the local rescue centre or were passed on to someone else.

I know we all need to make money, but I wouldn't buy a cross puppy unless it was for a very small sum to pay for the female or male to be spayed or neutured.

LINDA JOHNSON St Peter's Road Wolvercote Oxford