Hunting with Dogs - Questions and Answers
This set of questions is drawn from the wide range of correspondence, from both supporters and opponents of hunting, which Defra has received, and is provided in order to assist people in understanding the provisions, effects and background of the Hunting Act 2004. The Act was passed by Parliament on a free vote. There is no government policy on whether or not hunting should be banned, but the law must be respected .
Answers are drawn from published material, including the Burns Report, records of Parliamentary debates and the consultation process in 2002 which included three days of public hearings in Portcullis House. The answers also reflect Defra’s understanding of the legal position arising from the Hunting Act, but it should be noted that it will ultimately be for the courts to interpret and apply the Act in the light of cases brought before them.
Provisions and exemptions
- What exactly does the Act do?
- What are the main provisions of the Act?
- What are the exemptions?
- What is 'hunting' under the Act?
- Is hunting different from chasing away?
- Is it true that landowners can be fined if hunting takes place on their land without their consent??
Impact on the countryside
- Pest Control
- How will farmers and land owners be able to prevent damage by pests if hunting is restricted?
- What are the current restrictions on methods of pest control?
- Are foxes a significant predator of livestock?
- Do the recent tragic deaths of people on fox shooting expeditions suggest that shooting is not a good method for controlling foxes?
- Jobs
- Why has the Government passed legislation which could have a negative impact on the rural economy and result in the loss of jobs and businesses?
- How many jobs do you think will be lost as a result of the Act?
- What support is available to people who lose their jobs or businesses?
- What help is available to those who lose their tied cottages as a result of the Act?
- Fallen Stock
- Effect of the Ban
- Foxhunting only kills the old and infirm foxes leaving the healthy ones. Isn't that a good thing?
- Isn't it true that this ban will neither save a single fox nor reduce the suffering of animals in any way?
- Will the number of foxes increase as a result of the ban on hunting?
- What about the Middle Way Group’s research into the wounding rates of shooting?
Implications for country activities
- Number of hunts, hunters and kills
- Use and disposal of dogs
- How many dogs are kept for hunting?
- What will happen to redundant hunting dogs?
- Why not allow hunting with dogs in upland areas to protect livestock?
- How can you be sure that a group of thugs cannot rely on the exemption permitting a dog to be used below ground for going fox baiting on someone's land?
- It is impossible to control what happens in an earth after a terrier is put down after a fox. Will the Government put a requirement in the code of practice for any dog used below ground to be kept under such close control that it is unable to attack the fox, and only able to flush it to guns above ground?
- Deer
- Burns was concerned about deer management in the absence of deer hunting. What mechanism will be put in place to manage the deer population?
- What is the difference between deer stalking and deer hunting?
- Will the Government consider Burns' proposal that training be given to deer stalkers?
- Will not farmers become less tolerant of deer when hunting is banned?
- Why is it OK to shoot deer but not hunt them with dogs?
- Will the ban not mean that wounded deer cannot be tracked and relieved of their suffering?
- Isn't it true that it is impossible to manage deer herds without hunting?
- Hares
- Rabbits
- Falconry
- Rats
- Mink
- Fishing and shooting
- This is the thin end of the wedge. Won't shooting and fishing (which are just as cruel) be next?
- What is the Government's view of fishing?
- What statutory controls are in place for a person who wishes to use a rifle to shoot wild mammals which are pests?
- What are the criteria used to determine a competent person?
- Doesn't the Act require that any mammal flushed out must be shot?
- What implications does the Act have for people who go shooting with their dogs?
- Horse industry
- Wildlife management and biodiversity
- Alternatives to Live Quarry Hunting
Government position
- Was a ban on hunting with dogs Government policy?
- What was the Government's Manifesto Commitment?
- Shouldn't the Government have more important priorities than hunting?
- The Government said that the solution to the hunting issue should 'flow from the evidence', and based its earlier Bill on this principle. Doesn't this Act contradict this principle?
- Many members of the Government previously voted in favour of the regulation of hunting rather than a ban. Isn't that inconsistent?
- Isn't this a case of the Government being vindictive?
- Very few hunt followers ever actually see the kill, so how can you brand them cruel?
- Didn’t Lord Burns say that hunting foxes wasn’t cruel?
- Why are you persecuting hunters when you have done nothing about animal rights protesters?
- Why does the Government allow religious slaughter while banning hunting with dogs?
- Can Hunts declare themselves religions and use this as a way of evading the Act?
- Are there any circumstances in which a Minister would break an unjust law?
Policing and enforcement
- Police resources are stretched already. They will not be able to enforce the law?
- What will happen if the dogs taking part in a drag hunt kill a fox?
- Are you expecting Civil Disobedience?
- What will happen to Magistrates who sign up to the Countryside Alliance’s Hunt Declaration?
- How will police cope with large numbers of hunters defying the law?
- What representations has Defra received from the police?
- Is it correct that people can be imprisoned for failure to pay a fine?
- Is the police power of arrest when an offence is about to be committed unprecedented?
- Aren't the police powers of search/seizure etc draconian
- Why does the power of arrest only apply to some, but not others, of the offences?
- Doesn't the absence of imprisonment creates a loophole enabling a badger baiter to claim he was putting a dog below ground to search for a fox (rather than a badger) to avoid the possibility of imprisonment?
- £5,000 is an inadequate penalty for illegal hunting. Why is a custodial sentence not being considered?
Constitutional and process Issues (including commencement)
- Scrutiny & Parliament Acts 1911 & 1949
- Why did you refuse to let the Bill be considered by committee in the House of Commons in September 2004?
- What are the Parliament Acts?
- What are the main provisions of the Parliament Acts?
- Do the Parliament Acts require both Houses to adopt any special procedures?
- When have the Parliament Acts been used in the past?
- Doesn't this show that the Parliament Acts are not intended to apply to legislation like the Hunting Bill?
- Haven't the Parliament Acts only previously been used in time of national crisis. Isn't this a misuse of power by the Government?
- Isn't it true that no Bill which has spent less than 21 days in the Commons and which has not been completely scrutinised by both houses has ever had the Parliament Acts applied to it?
- Isn't it inappropriate to use the Parliament Acts to push through legislation which is not in the form the Government wanted?
- Are there not questions about the validity of the Parliament Act 1949?
- Is it true that the Government has said that it will not oppose the Countryside Alliance’s case?
- Commencement
Human Rights & Compensation
- Human Rights & Minorities
- Isn't this about the rights of minorities?
- Isn't this just a case of class prejudice?
- Didn’t Alun Michael’s Parliamentary Private Secretary, Peter Bradley, admit that the Act was motivated by class war?
- Isn't this just a case of the town not understanding the ways of the country?
- Whose freedoms will be taken away next?
- Hasn't the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights ruled that this Act is 'non-compliant' with the Human Rights Act?
- Hasn’t the Act been challenged in the Courts on human rights grounds?
- Didn’t the judges in this case find that the claimants’ human rights were engaged? What does this mean?
- Compensation
- Why does the Act not provide for compensation in respect of horses, dogs and hunt buildings which cannot be used for hunting as a result of the Act?
- Didn't the Burns report recommend paying compensation in the event of a ban?
- You paid compensation to fur farmers, why not to those affected by the Hunting Bill?
- What compensation or other help will you be giving to owners of dogs involved in hare coursing?
Experience in Scotland
- Why were Scottish MPs able to vote on this Act even though their constituents will not be affected by its provisions?
- What are the effects of the Scottish Act?
- How does the Scottish Act differ from the Hunting Act?
- Have there been any legal challenges?
- Have there been any prosecutions?
- Does this have any implications for the Hunting Act in England and Wales?
- Isn’t it true that there has been an increase in the shooting of foxes in Scotland as a result of the Act?
Background & Purpose
- What was the Burns Committee?
- What were the Portcullis House Hearings
- Why did the Government introduce the Hunting Bill in September 2004?
- What previous Bills have there been on this issue?
- How did Parliament vote on these Bills?
- How does the final Hunting Act differ from the Government's earlier proposals?
- Why was the banning Bill reintroduced, if the Government favoured a registration scheme?
- What happened during the voluntary cessation of hunting during foot and mouth disease?
- What do opinion polls say about support for and opposition to hunting?
- What about the position in rural areas
- Isn't it true that 59% of the people want hunting to continue?
Page last modified:
12 March, 2009
Page published: 28 September, 2004