YOU’D imagine that people who enjoy angling would be in tune with the natural world.

No doubt most are – and no doubt those countless hours standing quietly by the shore reminds many people of the fragility of the environment.

So it’s all the more surprising when a few fishermen display an iresponsibility that would disgrace the worst yobs on a sink estate.

Graham Nash has a £1,070 vet’s bill and two wounded dogs thanks to some thoughtless anglers at Poole’s Holes Bay. Both dogs swallowed discarded fishing equipment and clearly suffered a good deal of pain.

Discarded fishing tackle is a blight on the shore, injuring and maiming not just dogs but wildlife too.

Don’t the litterers know this, or don’t they care?

Either way, they’re displaying an intelligence not much above that of the fish.