Country gears up for hunting ban
Politicians, pro-hunt groups and the anti-hunting lobby are gearing up for the start of the ban on hunting with dogs.
After the Countryside Alliance lost its case at the Court of Appeal yesterday, the ban will come into force at midnight tonight.
From then, it will be illegal to hunt a wild mammal with a dog, except in certain exempted circumstances. Hare coursing will be completely banned.
Pro-hunters have vowed to fight on in the courts and have called for support for hunts turning out on Saturday. Though the majority of hunts will ride within the law, a minority have said they will flout the ban and continue as before.
They believe they will be able to exploit loopholes in the act to continue almost as normal.
There are also concerns that the ban will be almost impossible to enforce as rural police forces are already over-stretched and senior officers have admitted that hunting will not be a priority for their officers.
But, the League Against Cruel Sports and the RSPCA have rejected claims that there are loopholes in the law, and are planning to monitor some hunts for any evidence they are breaking it.
Alun Michael, Rural Affairs Minister, said that hunts had the right to demonstrate lawfully or take court action, but they must respect the new law.
Mr Michael said: “The Government has remained confident of its position throughout this challenge. We are also confident in respect of a quite separate action brought by the Alliance under human rights legislation. It is important to realise that even if the Human Rights Act challenge were to succeed, this would not affect the continuing validity of the Hunting Act.
“The hunting community have always said they are law-abiding members of the community and I expect them to keep to their word. From now on, if people set out to hunt a wild mammal with dogs, whether it be a fox, a mink, a hare or a deer, they will be breaking the law. It will then be up to the police to investigate and to gather evidence for a prosecution.”
Mr Michael said the ban would be policed and suggested that the resources needed would be similar to those previously used to police anti-hunt protests.
The Minister stressed that there was “no doubt” what the law entailed: “Those who want to live within the law will have no difficulty doing so. I am particularly pleased that hunts are now talking about an intention to hunt within the law.
“That means doing all that is traditionally associated with hunting from the stirrup cup to red coats to enjoying a day in the fresh air, and that should cause problems for no-one – as long as they don’t use their dogs to hunt a wild mammal.”
