The Support Hunting Association is one of the UK's most prominent pro-hunting organisations, now incorporating issues related to Game Shooting, Fox Hunting and Angling.
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WWW Supportfoxhunting.co.uk
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Have you seen these pages?
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Police View of a hunting ban - Two chief constables voice their concern on a ban on hunting.
Timelines -On the current Hunting Bill, the attempts to ban hunting, and on the ban in Scotland.
Hunting vs. Human Rights - Parliament has advised that the Hunting Bill is incompatible with the Human Rights Act.
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Quotes
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The ban has guaranteed that the time and money invested by the League Against Cruel Sports and the RSPCA has increased animal suffering. We told them this would happen. This rise in suffering since the ban is the cost of ignoring that warning!
Daily Telegraph
3 May 2005.
Numerous police officers accompanied the more than 250 hunts which took place yesterday, the first day that the sport became illegal. Despite the friendly exchanges between officers and huntsmen and women, the presence of the police posed a question: what public good were they trying to uphold?
Daily Telegraph
20 February 2005.
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| What the experts say & facts on the future |
Those against hunting come up with a load of rubbish in favour of their argument. Below are some of the claims they make... and the truth.
“[Hunting by hounds] is the natural, balanced, biological method of controlling wildlife, proven over centuries.”
"Hunting by hounds is the most natural and humane way of controlling the population of all four quarry species - fox, deer, hare and mink - in the countryside."
Veterinary Opinion
Statement supported by over 500 members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Lord Burns said in the House of Lords debate on the Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs on the 12th March 2001: �Naturally, people ask whether we were implying that hunting is cruel�The short answer to that question is no.� He also stated that, �If hunting were subject to a ban, I have little doubt that at least an equivalent number of foxes, deer and hares would be killed by other means.�
Lord Burns
Chairman of the Inquiry into hunting with dogs,
House of Lords, 12 March 2001.
[a ban on hunting could have a] �severe effect not only
on hunting hounds and terriers, but on all dogs and dog owners.�
Kennel Club
Britain's leading canine organisation
Two Chief Executives, a Chairman, a Chief Officer and an undercover investigator have left the League opposing a ban on animal welfare grounds. These are Graham Sirl, James Barrington, Mark Davis, Richard Course and Miles Cooper. more...
League Against Cruel Sports
Their submission to the Burns inquiry said; “Amongst the farming community, there are strong feelings about the importance of maintaining all the currently practised methods of pest control, not least the right to use dogs for the purpose of flushing out and/or taking mammalian pests.”
An NFU brief for Report Stage included that "As at least 17 million lambs are born every year in England and Wales, farmers can be forgiven for finding it hard to agree that the loss of some 340,000 of them to foxes at a cost to the industry of over £13.6million should be regarded as not significant."
The National Farmers Union (NFU)
Britains biggest farming union
"We found that landowners participating in field sports [hunting and shooting] maintained the most established woodland and planted more new woodland and hedgerows than those who did not, despite the equal availability of subsidies. Therefore, voluntary habitat management appears to be important for biodiversity conservation in Britain."
The University of Kent
A study carried out on 29th May 2003
"Parliament's vote for an outright ban on hunting with dogs fills many of my fellow officers with dread…" more...
Alastair McWhirter
Rural Policing Spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers. Now one of many police officers voicing concerns at any hunting ban.
As well as the view of experts, there are further facts that prove banning hunting will have further serious consequences in the future:
Fact: Shooting is next
On the 1 st May 2001 The Times newspaper reported seeing minutes of a League Against Cruel Sports board meeting that confirmed that their Directors had voted unanimously to campaign against shooting if they were successful against hunting. The RSPCA final draft submission to the Governments Animal Welfare Consultation included a proposal for the criminalisation of all game shooting for sport. This aspect was removed from the final submission.
Fact: 6,000 to 8,000 people's livelihoods at stake
The Burns Inquiry reported 6,000 to 8,000 full time equivalent jobs at risk. For many, this would affect their homes and families and destroy close knit rural communities. The British Equestrian Trade Association estimates that 36,000 jobs related to the equestrian industry would be lost in the event of a ban.
Fact: Hunting improves conservation
The Burns Report states: “Hunting has clearly played a very significant role in the past in the formation of the rural landscape and in the creation and management of areas of nature conservation.”
Fact: Drag hunting is not an alternative to fox hunting
Mr Broughton, Deputy Chairman of the Masters of Draghounds and Bloodhounds Association said; “Whilst our sport may be the closest on offer, it certainly is not and must never be referred to as a substitute or an alternative for live quarry hunting. To put it in a different context, rugby would be no replacement for soccer if it was banned”.
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Please note
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Click below to read 'The Countryside Alliance and the Council of Hunting Association Hunting Action Pack' from which most of the facts on this page appear.
Hunting Action Pack 2003, HTML Format, External Link
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