Letter from Mrs G E Purser (From Swindon Advertiser)

Letter from Mrs G E Purser

6:30pm Tuesday 22nd March 2011 in Letters

JAMES Barrington declaims at length about the Hunting Act (Letters, March 10, 2011) but he could gather his thoughts by remembering that the aim of this law is to prevent the unnecessary suffering inflicted on the fox, deer and hare by those who hound them to death for the sake of amusement.

So protection for rabbits is not included in the Hunting Act because they react to danger by diving underground compared to the hare, deer and fox who will run for their lives until exhausted which is a trait considered such 'good sport' by hunt supporters because they can doggedly pursue them with their packs of slower hounds.

The Hunting Act only requires a few, simple amendments to make it watertight and these changes, plus the reasons for the structure of the current legislation, can be fully explored in the public arena if the pro-hunt lobby wishes to open up this debate again.

There's an old saying comes to mind when reading long-winded contributions from hunt supporters: "He that uses many words for the explaining of any subject doth, like the cuttlefish, hide himself for the most part in his own ink."

MRS G E PURSER Newbridge Farm Clapton-on-the-Hill Cheltenham