To mark the sixth anniversary of the Hunting Act, which outlawed the cruel practice of hunting with dogs, IFAW’s fantastically costumed Freddie the Fox, Harriet Hare and Stan Stag will this week present officials at Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) with more than 10,000 public declarations of support for the hunting ban.
IFAW’s senior hunting and prosecutions officer Tania McCrea-Steele said: “The Hunting Act was introduced to stop foxes, deer, hares and mink from being chased and killed for so-called sport, which the majority of the British public find completely unacceptable.
“Many lawbreakers who have used dogs to inflict unspeakable cruelty on other animals have been successfully prosecuted. These declarations of support for the Act demonstrate that the British public is still opposed to hunting with dogs and would be appalled should the Government attempt to repeal this effective legislation.”
The declaration reads: “I am one of the compassionate majority of the British public who do not want to see animals chased and torn apart by dogs for ‘sport’. I support the Hunting Act and strongly believe that it should be retained and effectively enforced.”
The Coalition Government has pledged to hold a free vote to give MPs the chance to repeal the Hunting Act. Although it has stated that the repeal is not a priority, IFAW believes any attempt to repeal the Act should be dropped completely, in line with the wishes of the majority of the UK public whose opposition to hunting led to the Act’s introduction.
