I WOULDN’T call myself an animal lover - rather I would prefer to be known as an animal respecter.

My view is that all animals belong in the animal kingdom while all humans belong in the human kingdom.

Of course, over thousands of years humans and some animals have learned to live interdependently; so it’s perhaps unreasonable of me to expect there will ever be a reversal of this arrangement.

Interestingly, the animals we can happily live with are those animals which have very high populations.

Cattle, sheep, cats, horses and dogs are good examples.

Conversely, animals we find it difficult to live with, such as tigers and white rhinos, are endangered.

Maybe it’s their fault. They should not be so fierce or so hard to cuddle.

Anyway, I mention these matters because apparently there are more cats and kittens being abandoned in Britain than previously experienced. One theory is that the recession is causing this lamentable behaviour.

Now I don’t have a cat, nor do I have a dog - or a rabbit for that matter - so I have no idea how much these animals cost to keep.

But it must indeed be a terrible recession if you can’t afford to save a few scraps for your pet.

At this point I don’t want anyone to think I’m totally devoid of compassion for the animal kingdom.

I do actually have a pet or two in the house.

They’re called spiders. I even have names for them.

There’s the large furry one that lives under the bath.

I call him Timmy Tarantula, although I suspect he isn’t a real tarantula. He may not be a ‘he’, but what the heck.

Anyway, I also have another pet spider who lives on top of the kitchen wall units.

He is called Speedy Gonzales because he can’t half shift across the cupboard doors.

Naming pets is fun. When my kids were young we called two toads that lived in our garden Toad Lad and Toad Lass.

Rather Yorkshire I know, but cute don’t you think!