The Case for Repeal
The Case for Repeal is the definitive argument for the scrapping of the Hunting Act. An updated version is available on the Countryside Alliance website.
Hunting, Wildlife Management and the Moral Issue
The Veterinary Association for Wildlife Management (VAWM) has updated its report "Hunting, Wildlife Management and the Moral Issue" and is required reading for supporters of hunting with dogs.
The group has 570 supporters who are general veterinary practitioners and are spread across England , Wales, Scotland and Ireland . Many have had years of clinical experience with all common species of domestic and wild animals. Some are, or were, in the pharmaceutical industry, some are academics with a wealth of research experience, five are veterinary professors and six are fellows of the Royal College of Pathologists.The objectives of the Association are to promote the sensible management of British wildlife by methods that are advantageous for the welfare of wild animals and which promote or sustain the health and vigour of their species.
Read "Hunting, Wildlife Management and the Moral Issue" on the VAWM website
Why the hunting ban should be overturned
Ex-Countryside Alliance Head of Policy Nigel Burke writes in the Daily Express: "My colleague Ann Widdecombe has suggested that animal rights activists should be sent out with video cameras to monitor hunts to make sure that they stay within the terms of the Hunting Act and she paints a picture of them as a benign Neighbourhood Watch for foxes.
"I’m afraid that when she was an anti-hunting MP, valuable to animal rights campaigners, Ann won’t have had the chance to meet activists as they truly are..."
Hunting Act convictions
The Ministry of Justice has released new figures on Hunting Act convictions in England and Wales in response to a Parliamentary Question. In 2010 36 people were convicted of Hunting Act offences. None of those was employed by, or connected with, any hunt registered with the Masters of Foxhounds Association. Only one of those convictions relates to a hunt registered with the Council of Hunting Associations, of which the MFHA is a member.
Complete data from the Ministry of Justice from 2005 – 2010 shows that 181 people were convicted of Hunting Act offences. Just three of those people were connected to MFHA packs and three with other with registered CHA hunts. More than 97% of Hunting Act convictions did not involve hunts.
A Countryside Alliance press release on the conviction figures can be viewed here.
