PDA

View Full Version : What ban? 300,000 hunt supporters turn out to say tally-ho!



horshur
12-27-2007, 07:21 PM
What ban? 300,000 hunt supporters turn out to say tally-ho!

By DUNCAN ROBERTSON - More by this author » (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/dmsearch/overture.html?in_page_id=711&in_overture_ua=cat&in_start_number=0&in_restriction=byline&in_query=duncan robertson&in_name=on&in_order_by=relevance+date) Last updated at 01:38am on 27th December 2007
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/i/commentIconSm.gif Comments (63) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=504574&in_page_id=1770#StartComments)
A record number of hunt supporters attended Boxing Day meets across the country, rural campaigners claimed last night.



More than 300,000 turned out for the start of 314 registered hunts on the busiest day in the calendar.
The continuing popularity of the 400-year tradition highlights the Government's spectacular failure to kill it off when it banned hunting with dogs three years ago. Scroll down for more...

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_04/foxhunt1G_468x321.jpg The Countryside Alliance expect between 5,000 and 6,000 people supporting each of the most popular hunts




Yesterday's support brought renewed calls for the Hunting Act to be repealed, fuelled by the Tories' pledge to scrap the law if it wins the next election.
Simon Hart, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: "It's strange to say, but the mood is as optimistic as at any time in the last ten years.
"Hunting has taken the worst that could be thrown at it and survived. It is hard work at the moment, and the law puts innocent people at risk of prosecution, but there is an absolute determination in the hunting community to see the Hunting Act repealed.

"With an Opposition commitment for a Bill to repeal the ban and growing support from MPs and candidates of all parties, there is every reason to believe that the Act is on borrowed time."
Rural campaigners say publicity surrounding the ban has attracted a new breed of young, socially diverse riders, who have discovered the sport is no longer the preserve of the rich and privileged.
Scroll down for more...

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_04/fox26121AP_468x680.jpg Supporters and riders planned to attend 314 hunts across the UK today



Of the 563 masters and joint masters of foxhounds this season, 215 have taken on the role since the Hunting Act came into force in spring 2005.
Some of the record Boxing Day crowds were seen at the Avon Vale Hunt, where nearly 6,000 met at Lacock, near Chippenham, Wiltshire, and at the Heythrop Hunt, in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, where 5,000 turned out.
Di Pyper, Master of the Puckeridge Hunt, which attracted 600 supporters at Brent Pelham, in Hertfordshire, said there is now a countrywide call for a repeal of the ban.
She added: "A lot of people who are here today would not even have thought about hunting a few years ago.
Boxing Day has become an opportunity to show support for us. The Hunting Act has failed and the campaign against hunting has backfired."
Among those taking part in events yesterday was Exmoor huntsman Tony Wright, 53, who won an appeal last month against his conviction for hunting a wild animal with dogs.
Despite promises by anti-hunt protesters to help police monitor hunting activity following the ban, only three cases have been successfully prosecuted.
Although the 2004 Act made hunting with dogs a criminal offence, the majority of hunts have continued to meet legally by exploiting loopholes in the law.
Hunts may use hounds to flush out foxes as long as they are either shot, or killed by a bird of prey.
Others have survived by training their packs to chase dummy prey dragged by quad bikes and other vehicles.
There were no significant clashes reported between hunt supporters and anti-hunt protesters yesterday.
The League Against Cruel Sports said it did not object to the Boxing Day hunts if they stayed within the law but they would be monitoring any illegal activity.
Barry Hugill, a spokesman for the group, said: "We will have no qualms about bringing prosecutions against anyone caught breaking the law. "This year we're fairly certain there will be a lot more convictions."