THE Evening News (You Say, November 1) carried a letter from John Cooper, Chairman of the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS).

His correspondence, currently making the rounds of the regional Press, contains a description of hunting and terrier work that is complete fiction. If we believe Mr Cooper's idea that every other hound is shot for failing to catch a fox and most terriers are killed underground then hunt kennels would very soon be empty.

LACS has ceased claiming full public backing for a ban but this was inevitable after demand to make hunting a crime dropped well below 50 per cent in the latest polls.

I trust Mr Cooper will be able to supply more details of the population study in which each individual fox was apparently counted. This remarkable scientific work has obviously not been published before.

I would very much appreciate Mr Cooper giving his views on why at least two of his predecessors, along with numerous executives at LACS, have left their posts in the organisation to openly support the continuation of hunting on the grounds of animal welfare or conservation.

To my knowledge, this question has never been answered by anyone at LACS. Perhaps Mr Cooper - as Chairman - will oblige.

JON BURGESS,

Malvern.