AS 'townies', my family has suffered only indirectly from the effects of foot and mouth disease, being cut off from the countryside around us.
However, I know that everyone in Devon shares in a deeper sense of common loss, as thousands of animals have been slaughtered, farms and businesses are in danger of going under, and tourists shun our somewhat stigmatised county.
As the epidemic has now begun to wane, so too I fear, will the politician's initial enthusiasm for a full enquiry into the causes.
I am very concerned that long-term changes are made which would ensure that a similar disaster never occurs, will never happen.
The day-to-day lives of people in London, the big cities, and even Plymouth have hardly been affected. They will soon forget the devastation they saw on their television screens. It is up to people like us to sustain the momentum of pressure for change.
Whatever happens on June 7, I will be writing to Westminster and to our MP in the hope that all this animal and human suffering has not been in vain.
Louise Byworth
4 Hessary View
Tavistock