The Hunt Saboteurs Association has produced a booklet titled ‘Witness The End Of Hunting’ which outlines our plans to stop hunters in their tracks or – at least – get them into court with a high chance of prosecution.
With the government’s consultation on hunting to begin “early in the new year” this is the first in a series of bulletins focusing on the different areas we are promoting to really stop hunting with hounds.
Introducing a ‘Recklessness Clause’ would make it an offence to be the cause of any mammal’s death. It would encourage proper behaviour from those with packs of dogs, as the onus would be on the person in charge of the animals to prevent such activity. It would align with the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953, which puts the responsibility on the person in charge of the dog(s) in question.
At present, the general defence used by hunts on the rare occasions they end up in court on a Hunting Act charge is that the chasing and/or killing of an animal was an accident. They usually claim that the hounds simply drifted off a trail and that it was an accident and much regretted by all involved.
The fact that hounds will have been introduced into coverts, kale fields and other dense undergrowth in the ‘search’ is not covered by the Hunting Act as it stands. The present act was drafted with no real definition of hunting, so this has been left up to the courts who have defined hunting to exclude the searching or seeking of wildlife. The HSA will be pushing for a definition which includes searching and seeking to be part of the hunting process and thus covered by the act.
This – alongside a recklessness clause – would put the onus on the hunt to take all necessary action to prevent any occurrences of finding or killing an animal. This would not prevent all current hunting activity but, alongside other changes we are suggesting, it would be a major step towards stopping the deliberate killing of wildlife and brushing it off as an accident.
You can download our Witness The End Of Hunting booklet here:
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