THE JOURNAL (Newcastle, UK), March 25, 2005
800 foxes killed since hunt ban
Fox-hunters across England and Wales have tallied up more than a thousand days of hunting between them and killed around 800 foxes since the pursuit was banned last month.
Despite the implementation of the Hunting Act on February 18, which has outlawed the use of hounds, other methods have included flushing out foxes to waiting guns and terrier work to protect game birds.
Although hunting in the North-East has been largely slowed by the weather since the ban came into force, last night the Countryside Alliance said the figures showed the controversial legislation did not protect foxes.
Chief executive Simon Hart said: "It is a huge morale boost to see hunts determined to retain their infrastructure until this temporary ban is repealed.
"Hunts around the country have shown just how impossible it would be for already overstretched police forces to enforce the legislation.
"The support for hunting in the wake of the ban has been outstanding, and hunts will be looking forward to next season with increased determination." Martin Claxton, huntsman with the Percy Hunt in Alnwick, said last night: "This legislation has never been about protecting wildlife."
Mr Hart added that the Hunting Handbook, produced by the Alliance in conjunction with the Council of Hunting Associations, had been instrumental in providing a way forward for the hunting community until the Hunting Act is erased from the Statute Book.
A new edition will be published soon, as will a strategy for hunting in the future. He added: "We are confident of both of our legal challenges, which return to the courts later this year."
Northumbria Chief Constable Crispian Strachan is due to say the hunting ban is difficult to enforce this weekend. In a television interview to be broadcast on Sunday, he adds: "It's not a high priority because it is not a recordable offence.
"There are no human victims and I'm sorry, there will be people watching this who feel very strongly but I am bound to put human victims before animal victims and then deal according to resources."
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