Being me, I phoned them and said to a man I spoke to that maybe this might be a little offensive to a potential customer who didn’t happen to look upon all animals as food.

His answer was that “we don’t want vegetarians here, we’re a steakhouse”.

I thought that a little odd as they do have vegetarian options on their menu.

He also said that he was a vegetarian and thought the sign was amusing.

To the hotel’s credit, they removed the sign.

In my opinion, Christmas does not have to be a carnivorous feast as there are hundreds of delicious other options, some of which one would never guess were meatless.

Think about the hybridised, fast-growing broiler turkey or chicken in an artificially-lit shed, crammed in with thousands of others, legs deformed, unable to hold its own weight. It falls, cannot get up, let alone get to the food and water so it dies, is trampled on and cannibalised by the others.

This is the reality of what some people are eating, and in my opinion, so-called agribusiness at its worst.

Ms A Hodges

Birdwood