Mini’s Law would protect animals from hunting activities

WE have been used in an argument, both in the media and in Parliament so, given the invite to the debate, we would like to have our say.

Parliament have been debating the 101,997 signature strong petition, Mini’s Law. Mini the cat was attacked by out of control hunting hounds by her home, then her lifeless body was discarded by hunt masters in a bid to hide what they’d done. All caught on CCTV! In the last few days, the hunt master who was found guilty of allowing a pack of hounds to kill Mini has had the appeal against his conviction refused. Contrary to popular belief amongst hunts persons, they are not above or exempt from the law, and we welcome this result.

Polly Portwin, director of the Campaign for Hunting at the Countryside Alliance spoke to the media in the last couple of days, stating: “Incidents involving registered hunts are incredibly rare and pale into insignificance alongside the hundreds of thousands killed by cars.”

Today we notice that politicians have brought us up by name in Parliament, during a Mini’s Law debate, implying that what we do is more important in relation to death rate. Given this level of concern by the Countryside Alliance and MPs, we take it CatsMatter have their full support and backing in our goals to have cats protected on roads from drivers who fail to stop and help the cat if they hit them when driving? If every media outlet or politician compared every issue to others, nothing would ever get done. In this case, road accident numbers are completely irrelevant to this petition.

We are asking the Government to back Mini’s Law (Public and Animal Safety Bill 2021) to ensure safety to the public and animals from hunting activity, such as trail hunts and exercise of hunting hounds. There should be no comparing of road accidents, unless of course we are talking about the hunts’ recklessness in allowing their loose, uncontrolled hunting hounds to become a major concern on our roads, when there is no excuse for what has happened to Mini, or the many other wild and domestic pets that have suffered at the hands of people partaking in illegal hunt activities.

We do not appreciate being referenced in the media or Parliament in a bid to somehow justify what happened to Mini, or fox hunting itself. We are supporters of Mini’s Law and stand firmly with other campaigners when they say they believe that “trail hunting” is nothing but a smokescreen for illegal fox hunting.