SIR - I find it extraordinary that ten years after hunting wild animals was banned, the campaign for its revival continues, and the same old arguments are dredged up (Jon Burgess, January 9). In his letter he claims that members of the RSPCA 'carefully studied hound breeding records'. We most certainly did not. We were allowed no sight of these records.
He also writes that during the campaign, questions were never raised regarding 'the health and lifespan of hounds'. Anyone who followed the hunting correspondence at the time will be amazed at this assertion.
Tears were often shed by hunters, claiming that they woudl have to destroy their hounds. We argued that, as they routinely killed around one sixth of the pack annually, these were crocodile tears. In 1984 in Shooting Times, Robin Mackenzie, an official of the British Field Sports Society (now The Countryside Alliance) wrote, 'the average hunt breeds six litters with six pups each year'. There are around 200 foxhunts in Britain. Even if they now breed only four litters with say, five pups, that is still 4,000 hounds killed each year. There are also around 100 other packs of stag, hare and minkhounds, all introducing new hounds every year - all to be killed at around six years of age.
MAURICE W BRETT Bromsgrove
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