COUNTRYSIDE campaigners and animal rights supporters are as divided now as they were ten years ago today (Wednesday) when hunting wild animals with dogs was banned.

While the Countryside Alliance wants to scrap the Hunting Act, which became law on February 18, 2005, the League Against Cruel Sports wants it strengthened.

Countryside Alliance campaigns director Tim Bonner said there are as many hunts now as a decade ago due to “the determination of the hunting community”.

He said: “The law has proved just as unworkable, pointless and wasteful as we predicted.

“A law which was passed because of MPs’ obsession with foxhunting has been used almost exclusively to prosecute poachers – 97% of cases brought under the Act don’t involve registered hunts.

“The Hunting Act doesn’t even work from the fox’s point of view.

“Anti-hunt groups spent around £30million to put the Hunting Act on the Statute Book– since then they haven’t spent a penny to show the impact it has had on animal welfare.

“This is because there has been no improvement in welfare – just as many foxes are being killed as were before the ban.

“The Hunting Act has nothing to do with animal welfare and everything to do with class politics and prejudice which is why the law is completely unworkable.

“Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money and thousands of hours of police time continue to be wasted on spurious allegations under the Hunting Act.”

LACS want to strengthen the Act by banning the use of dogs below ground, where they claim “the worst cruelty occurs”; ensuring killing wild animals during a trail hunt cannot be passed off as an ‘unfortunate accident’; and increasing penalties.

League chief executive Joe Duckworth said: “The Hunting Act has proven to be an effective and popular piece of legislation, with a higher number of convictions than similar wildlife laws.

“Public support for the prohibition of hunting has always been high, but this has also increased substantially over the past ten years.

“Yet, since its introduction, the Act has been the target of considerable attack from the pro-hunt lobby, which has waged an on-going and concerted campaign of disinformation to publicly discredit the legislation and promote their campaign for repeal.

“The problem isn’t with the law. It’s with those that flout it.”

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