To the Brits on Pet Talk, please back the ban.

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The Hunting Act 2004 made the hunting with dogs of all wild mammals an offence, and also completely banned hare coursing. There are a few tightly-drawn exemptions to allow essential activities, such as pest control, to continue subject to strict conditions.

The ban does not stop people from riding with their dogs provided they remain within the law.

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You may or may not know that there are plans afoot to rescind the ban. Please go to http://www.backtheban.com/home and join with me and many others in the fight to try and stop this happening.

Thank you in advance. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...s/grouphug.gif

Why are they rescinding the ban ?????

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Originally Posted by wombat2u2004

Why are they rescinding the ban ?????

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Political opportunism. We have a general election this year and someone obviously thinks there could be votes in attempting to rescind the ban.

Chris, I'm assuming this could only apply to England and Wales, as the Scottish ban was brought previously under separate legislation. Have you heard anything about that? I can't find any comment on it.

Signed and forwarded to my friends.

I heard that the Countryside Alliance is gaining popularity too, meaning that they have more weight to lean on the government with.

signed.

I'm 100% pro hunting, but not pro slaughter by dog. Having a dog flush out some birds or point, or retrieve the shot bird is fine in my books, as the dog is an aid, not a mauler. I'm also pro dog tracking of a bad shot, even though it should NEVER EVER EVER EVER happen, I'd rather the animal be found quickly by a barking/tracking dog, then left to rot somewhere. The dog should never be used to track down a healthy mammal. It's just simple respect for the mammal being hunted. IMO

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Originally Posted by Miss Z

Signed and forwarded to my friends.

I heard that the Countryside Alliance is gaining popularity too, meaning that they have more weight to lean on the government with.

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Thanks for signing and forwarding. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...iles/thumb.gif Very much needed if the Countryside Alliance is weighing in. (For those who don't know the Countryside Alliance are pro fox hunting and are backing a repeal.)

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Originally Posted by Killearn Kitties

Political opportunism. We have a general election this year and someone obviously thinks there could be votes in attempting to rescind the ban.

Chris, I'm assuming this could only apply to England and Wales, as the Scottish ban was brought previously under separate legislation. Have you heard anything about that? I can't find any comment on it.

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Forgive me Karen, I forget sometimes that you have a parliament with some real power up there in Scotland unlike us with our piddling Welsh Assembly.

Anyhow, no, I can't find a comment on it either. Though working on logic if the Tories win the election and David Cameron as Prime Minister goes though with his pledge to prioritise the bill to repeal the ban, wouldn't that put pressure on the Scottish parliament to do the same? Or wouldn't it make any difference? As you can tell I'm not a political animal in any shape or form. :D

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Originally Posted by king2005

signed.

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Thanks Jess.

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Originally Posted by ChrisH

Anyhow, no, I can't find a comment on it either. Though working on logic if the Tories win the election and David Cameron as Prime Minister goes though with his pledge to prioritise the bill to repeal the ban, wouldn't that put pressure on the Scottish parliament to do the same? Or wouldn't it make any difference? As you can tell I'm not a political animal in any shape or form. :D

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It was on the radio this morning, Chris, and they specifically said it was the ban in England and Wales that was being addressed. I'm not sure that they would attempt to rescind Scotland's ban after the election. We certainly don't constitute Cameron's core support.

Regardless, I will be backing the ban.

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Originally Posted by Killearn Kitties

It was on the radio this morning, Chris, and they specifically said it was the ban in England and Wales that was being addressed. I'm not sure that they would attempt to rescind Scotland's ban after the election. We certainly don't constitute Cameron's core support.

Regardless, I will be backing the ban.

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Thanks Karen, for both the info and the support. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../thumbsup3.gif :)

As a lover of dogs I support your quest.

Our puppies belong in a house like one of these:
http://handymanplanstore.com/dog-house-plans/

Scott

Came across this today on the BBC website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8521030.stm

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Labour presses Cameron on hunting


Labour has stepped up pressure on David Cameron over the issue of fox hunting, urging him to rule out a repeal of the ban in place since 2005.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has written to the Tory leader, saying the ban has worked and is supported by a majority of the population.
His letter comes on the fifth anniversary of the ban's introduction.
The Tories said the ban had been an "abject failure" and that MPs should be allowed a free vote on repealing it.

The party said, if elected, it would make time available during the next parliament for a vote on the issue but did not indicate how soon this might happen.

For the past five years, hounds have been allowed to follow a scent or flush out a fox, but not kill it.

'Out of touch'

The 2004 Hunting Act, which also banned stag hunting and hare coursing, has remained highly controversial despite being passed with a large parliamentary majority.

Labour maintains that repealing the ban is a "priority" for the Tories and set up a website late last year encouraging people to support the ban.
In his letter, Mr Benn said the legislation was "popular, humane and effective" and suggested Mr Cameron's "opposition" to it shows that the Conservatives remain "out of touch" with public opinion.


“ It is also very hard to see why this would be a priority for an incoming government ”
Hilary Benn



"Labour banned fox hunting, stag hunting and hare coursing because there is no place for animal cruelty in a modern, civilised society," he wrote.
"The ban has worked and has allowed people to continue riding with hunts without the cruelty previously involved. Five years after its introduction, the RSPCA have said that the Hunting Act compares favourably to other wildlife crime legislation currently on the statute book and is enforceable."
Suggestions that the ban would lead to the loss of thousands of job losses in already struggling rural communities had not been borne out, he added.

"The grave predictions for the rural economy following the ban have proved baseless," he said.

Mr Benn said 6,500 supporters of the ban had co-signed the letter and that the Tory leader must clarify his position given the "strength of public feeling" about the issue.

"In the light of all this, we find it impossible to understand why you are determined to legalise once again the tearing to pieces of foxes by dogs. It is also very hard to see why this would be a priority for an incoming government."

Mr Benn added: "In the countryside and in towns across Britain people are coming together to say that making animals kill each other for sport has no place in a modern, civilised society."

'Affront'

In October, shadow environment secretary Nick Herbert - who once worked for the British Field Sports Society - described the hunting ban as an "affront" to civil liberties and "completely unworkable".
He said a Conservative government would consider creating a regulatory body for fox hunting which could work towards "minimising animal suffering".

Only a small number of prosecutions under the Hunting Act have reached court since 2005 but in a report published on Thursday, animal welfare charity Ifaw in Action said 100 people had been brought to justice for breaking the law.

There was "overwhelming scientific evidence" that hunting with dogs was cruel, it said.

But pro-hunting body the Countryside Alliance says the ban is "fundamentally illiberal" and based on prejudice rather than practical evidence.
It maintains the hunting community is "united and determined" to secure its repeal.

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I always find it bemusing how pro-hunting groups constantly label the ban as 'a complete failure', and then never back it up with any evidence! :rolleyes: :p

And working to ensure that re-introducing hunting would 'minimalise animal suffering', so they're saying animals were suffering pre-ban? When I recall they claimed, at the time, that it was the most humane death possible? Hmm.

“ It is also very hard to see why this would be a priority for an incoming government ”
Hilary Benn

I'm not sure I have found myself in agreement with Hilary Benn very often, but I have to agree with this one. We are facing financial meltdown, the biggest deficit in our entire history, and someone is seeking to concentrate on repealing an act which has huge public support?

Surely some mistake???