LONDON: In spite of a prevailing ban, thousands of foxhunters in Britain came out on horsebacks for the annual Boxing Day hunt. The tradition, said to be more than thousand years old and performed after Christmas and New Year's Day, was banned 10 months ago.
Groups opposing the ban have been criticising the government's move saying the resistance is actually bringing in more people to the sport. A pro-hunting organisation, Countryside Alliance group, said hundreds of thousands of people support the sport and they will be on the street.
In a survey carried out by ORB For the Countryside Alliance, some 59 per cent of 1,004 respondents said they did not think the ban is working, 34 per cent thought it is working and 7 said they did not know.
Countryside Alliance's chief executive Simon Hart said the Hunting Act is simply not working. "It is a bad law riddled with inconsistencies, and its effects are entirely negative."
One of the biggest events this Boxing day is at Didmarton in Gloucestershire with some 200 riders.
Meanwhile, animal rights activists said volunteers will watch the purported hunting and record any violation of the law in England and Wales.
The act, which came into force in February, makes hunting for foxes with dogs illegal. There is no ban on meetings taking place and foxes can be killed by a bird of prey or shot, but only if no more than two dogs are involved.
In another survey, by BBC, as much as 82 per cent of some 1,000 people in Wales, who were queried, felt the activity was carrying on unchanged. Nearly 43 per cent said they were in favour of the ban, while 37 per cent opposed it. As much as 71 per cent of people said they believed police should prosecute people who broke the hunting legislation, but 21 per cent said illegal hunts should not face prosecution.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare said it would be observing the hunts on Boxers Day and on New Year's Day to film any suspicious activity. The League Against Cruel Sports published an advice booklet meant for the rural people, who it said were suffering because of the "havoc" caused by English and Welsh hunts.
Posted
on : Mon, 26 Dec 2005 18:20 GMT | Politics News
By : Pippa Fielding
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