Tuesday 18th November 2014 marks the tenth anniversary of the passing of the Hunting Act. Now the League Against Cruel Sports has launched a new report calling for specific improvements to make it even more effective.
The Hunting Act has proven to be an effective and popular piece of legislation, with a higher number of convictions than similar wildlife laws. Public support for the prohibition of hunting has always been high, but this has also increased substantially over the past ten years.
Yet, since its introduction, the Act has been the target of considerable attack from the pro-hunt lobby which has waged an ongoing and concerted campaign of disinformation to publicly discredit the legislation and promote their campaign for repeal.
The problem is not with the law. It’s with those arrogant bloodsports fanatics who think they’re above the law and openly flout it. This cannot be allowed to go on in a democracy where the rule of law is sacrosanct.
It is now time to build on the successes of first ten years and strengthen the Hunting Act to ensure the spirit of the Act is fulfilled.
The League is recommending three main improvements to strengthen the Hunting Act, these include:
1. Prohibiting the use of dogs below ground - this is arguably where the worst cruelty occurs in hunting, not only to wild mammals pursued underground with limited opportunity to escape (usually foxes and badgers), but also to the dogs sent below ground to find these animals and either flush them out or hold them at bay.
2. Inserting a ‘reckless’ provision to ensure the killing of wild mammals during a trail hunt cannot be passed off as an ‘unfortunate accident’.
3. Increasing the punishments available to the courts so that the Act is brought in line with other animal protection legislation.
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