POLICING THE HUNTING ACT

There was good news from the Isle of Wight on Monday when the four members of the Isle of Wight Hunt, who had been arrested in a series of ludicrously over-dramatic 'dawn raids' last week and questioned about alleged Hunting Act offences, heard that the Crown Prosecution Service had decided that they had no case to answer. Both our Chairman Kate Hoey MP and local MP Andrew Turner had written to the Chief Constable of Hampshire asking some searching questions about why the investigation was handled as it was.

Everyone understands that the Hunting Act is a confusing and unclear law, and that the police might want to ask exactly what hunts are doing, but when everyone connected with the hunt would have voluntarily attended a police station for questioning, the use of large numbers of officers is bound to leave local people with serious questions about policing priorities.

Generally, the policing of the Hunting Act has been so sensible that exceptional incidents like this stand out. Most police forces understand that this sort of heavy handed and wasteful policing, especially when it is based on allegations made by well known animal rights activists, risks sparking a breakdown in the relationship between the police and the rural community, which is exactly what we should all be trying to avoid.

Beginning on Monday in Taunton Magistrates Court, Richard Down and Adrian Pullivant of the Quantock Staghounds face a private prosecution under the Hunting Act brought by the League Against Cruel Sports. This is only the second Hunting Act case to reach the courts following Tony Wright's prosecution last year. Tony's case is being appealed and will be heard in Exeter Crown Court later in the summer. We wish Richard and Adrian all the best and will be reporting from Taunton as the case progresses.

Whatever the outcome, there is one thing we can be confident of: the Hunting Act has failed all the expectations the animal rights movement had for it. The determination of the Countryside Alliance and the hunting community to see the Hunting Act repealed remains undiminished.

Simon Hart