SIR – Pauline Burgess (Worcester News, January 26) is correct; a Somerset huntsman, Richard Down, of the Quantock Staghounds, was convicted for the second time under the Hunting Act (2004).
The incident exposes how muddled and inhumane this law and those who imposed it really are.
Mr Down had been alerted by a farmer to a red deer stag with a shattered hip. Using three hounds he flushed the animal from cover so it could be immediately shot and saved from a slow agonising death. While carrying out this difficult task the League Against Cruel Sports secretly filmed Mr Down at work.
Subsequently, this recording was used to convict him. He was fined £375 for using three hounds instead of two while putting an animal out of its misery as rapidly as possible. After Mr Down was fined, Douglas Batchelor, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sport, said: “This is a real slap in the face for anyone who claims the Hunting Act is not working.” This is typical of the animal rights fraternity, more obsessed with making everyone conform to their agenda than having any concept or interest in real animal welfare or wildlife conservation.
JON BURGESS
Worcester
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