Tougher hunting laws call
MP BACKS CAMPAIGN TO TIGHTEN LOOPHOLES IN CURRENT LEGISLATION
A Wearside MP has signed a petition calling for tougher laws against hunting.
Sharon Hodgson, MP for Washington and Sunderland West, has signed the petition amid growing concerns that British wildlife is still being targeted due to loopholes in the law.
Signing the petition, launched by animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports, Mrs Hodgson met with representatives from the charity, to find out how ‘trail’ hunting is being used as a cover for illegal hunting and how exemptions and loopholes in the law are resulting in wildlife being chased and killed in the name of ‘sport’.
She said: “I wholeheartedly support the league’s petition to stop the barbaric killing of innocent animals by hunting hounds.
“Animal welfare is a big concern to many of my constituents and I will continue to press for tougher sentences for those convicted of abusing any animal.”
The Hunting Act 2004 prohibits packs of hounds from chasing and killing foxes, deer, hares and mink, but most hunts converted to ‘trail’ hunting after the ban and use this, as well as exemptions within the law, as an excuse to continue targeting animals.
Trail hunting was invented by the hunts and purports to closely mimic traditional hunting. It involves laying a trail of fox urine, or other animal-based scent, across areas where wildlife is found and without the huntsmen who should be controlling the hounds knowing where that trail has been laid.
The league’s evidence shows that trail hunting is a deception and genuine trails are hardly ever laid. The charity’s investigators are witnessing hunting that looks very similar to pre-ban activity, but when foxes and other wildlife are chased and killed, the hunts claim it was accidental. Strengthening of existing hunting legislation is urgently needed to prevent trail hunting and other false alibis being used to circumvent the law.