Hunting Act 2004

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With the Hunting Act 2004, among other things, fox hunting with packs of dogs was banned by the British Parliament.

The Hunting Act 2004 is a law passed by the UK Parliament in 2004 . Dogs are not allowed to hunt live foxes , hares, red deer and American mink in England and Wales . The law came into force on February 18, 2005. In Scotland , the pursuit of foxes with packs of dogs had been banned two years earlier. However, this form of hunting is permitted in Northern Ireland . Since traditional fox hunting was banned, the number of drag hunts in Britain has roughly doubled.

debate

The ban was preceded by a heated debate in the UK. Interior Minister Jack Straw commissioned a commission, the so-called Burns Inquiry , to investigate the details of these forms of hunting and sport. The commission came to the conclusion that prey such as rabbits and foxes were seriously affected in their welfare by these forms of hunting. However, no recommendation was made as to whether this form of hunting should remain permitted or whether it should be discontinued. After it was passed, several newspapers and other media outlets criticized the law, arguing that Tony Blair's Labor government had given in to demands made by Labor backbenchers who were prejudiced against hunting. In fact, MPs from all parties had approved the bill. Following the passage of the law, they pointed out that the majority of the population wanted such a law and that hunting dogs cause unnecessary suffering among prey.

Critics of the decision, however, pointed out that both readings of the law in the House of Commons were improperly carried out at the same meeting. The House of Lords rejection of the bill was overturned by a government veto. This procedure is legally controversial and has recently only been used in counter-terrorism laws. It was also criticized that other hunting methods such as shooting or poisoning wild animals are still allowed. These are often much more cruel than the killing of prey by a predator, which is an everyday occurrence in nature. The animal welfare argument is therefore primarily used to serve prejudices against the rural establishment .

Followers of hunted hunts have repeatedly announced that they will continue to practice this form of hunting in the future. They see their freedom as restricted by the law and have brought actions against this law in various courts of law. The Countryside Alliance has repeatedly pointed to the difficult implementation of the law, while the hunted League Against Cruel Sports finds the law unambiguous and clear. According to the Countryside Alliance, this law prohibits chasing a mouse with a dog, while it is allowed to hunt a rat. A rabbit can also be hunted with a dog, but not a hare. A hunter is allowed to have a fox driven away by two dogs. However, if you use three dogs, this is prohibited under the Hunting Act 2004. On the other hand, as many game birds can be scared off with dogs as the hunter wishes.

Types of hunting allowed with dogs under the Hunting Act 2004

The Hunting Act 2004 prohibits all forms of hunting which Parliament considers to be unnecessarily cruel sport. On the other hand, hunting exercises that are necessary for pest control are permitted. Parliament is of the opinion that wherever rats and rabbits are pests, they can also be hunted with dogs. The parliamentarians could not agree that dogs must be used to hunt mice and, in the vote, took the view that rabbit baiting in particular was a cruel form of hunting. Therefore, these forms of hunt were not exempted from the ban. However, the two exceptions for rats and rabbits do not allow traditional hunts. Rabbits generally stay near their burrows and go to them as soon as they notice dogs nearby. They therefore do not offer the chase that the hunters want.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ All about drag hunting , Horse and Hound. January 7, 2005. Retrieved January 14, 2010. 
  2. ^ The Final Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs in England and Wales . Her Majesty's Stationery Office. June 9, 2000. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved on February 10, 2008.
  3. ^ Hunters fall prey to Parliament . BBC. November 19, 2004. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
  4. ↑ Poll (PDF) YouGov. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
  5. ^ Attitudes To The Hunting Ban . Ipsos Mori. February 16, 2005. Archived from the original on October 22, 2007. Retrieved on February 19, 2008.
  6. ↑ Hatz has to go! . the daily newspaper. September 17, 2004. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
  7. ↑ Legal challenges update (PDF) Countryside Alliance. July 19, 2005. Accessed on January 3, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.countryside-alliance.org  
  8. ^ Blueprint for a whole Countryside. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; Retrieved July 19, 2005 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.countryside-alliance.org.uk  
  9. ^ Huntsman guilty of breaking ban . BBC. August 4, 2006. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
  10. ^ Hunting Act 2004 CHAPTER 37 . 
  11. ↑ Official Report, Commons . House of Commons. December 16, 2002. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
  12. ↑ Official Report, Lords . October 28, 2004. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
  13. ^ Behavioral, Morphological and Dietary Response of Rabbits to Predation Risk from Foxes . from Banks, PB, Hume, ID & Crowe, O .; Oikos 85 (2), 1999, pages 247-256