Posted on 02/16/2005 6:30:16 AM PST by Dan from Michigan
Hunting ban challenge fails
A renewed attempt by the Countryside Alliance to overturn Parliament's ban on hunting with dogs has failed in the Court of Appeal.
Three senior judges headed by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, rejected argument that the 1949 Parliament Act, which MPs used to force through the Hunting Act in the face of opposition from the House of Lords, was invalid.
The Hunting Act, which outlaws fox-hunting, deer-hunting and hare-coursing with dogs, is set to come into force on Friday.
The appeal judges described the challenge to the Act as "unusual, and in modern times probably unprecedented".
"In this respect, this case is no ordinary public law case and the judgment deals with an issue of considerable constitutional importance."
Sir Sydney Kentridge QC, for three hunt supporters funded by the Alliance, argued at a hearing on February 8 that Parliament had never correctly voted for the 1949 Act which was therefore unlawful.
The 1949 Act was an amendment to the 1911 Parliament Act which reduced the time the Lords could hold up a Bill going through Parliament.
Any legislation introduced by invoking the Act was equally unlawful, Sir Sydney told Lord Woolf, sitting with the Master of the Rolls, Lord Phillips, and Lord Justice May.
But the judges dismissed the Alliance's appeal against a High Court ruling on January 28 in which Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Mr Justice Collins said it was clear that the 1949 Act was valid and the proposed hunting ban lawful.
The appeal judges ruled that MPs did have the power to amend the 1911 Act, the 1949 Act was therefore valid and dismissed the appeal.
The animal rights wackos at the Humane Society(They aren't your local pet group) are pushing for the same thing here at home. They are a minority, but are very vocal and are LOADED with cash.
Question for those who might know:
>>The Hunting Act, which outlaws fox-hunting, deer-hunting and hare-coursing with dogs, is set to come into force on Friday.<<
Is hunting of foxes, deer, and hares WITHOUT DOGS still legal?
How, pray, would one hunt them? Run them down and stomp them to death? No, the animal-rights whackos in the UK want to stop all animal-related sport, including fishing, horse-racing, jumping, riding, et cetera. They're on the rampage and they have the Commons in their pocket. The whole situation is monstrously sad. Yet another example of the way the Left is destroying the UK.
The ancient sport of deerstalking is still legal and will continue unchanged. (For those who don't know, stalking is done on foot and with rifles.) Shooting of foxes as vermin also remains legal, and will in fact increase if fox-hunting as vermin control ceases. The same goes for hares, but with rather more restrictions as they're a much scarcer animal.
You know that all of these sports are next on the agenda of the animal-rights loonies. It's only a matter of time. They are already going after fishing, and there are rumblings they want to stop all ownership of horses because it's "exploitative."
Britain has been taken over and is now run by the far, far, far left.
Actually, here in the United States, with the notable exception of the Eastern gentrified horse country people, most of us are much too lazy to attempt running down a fox, deer, or hare on foot, on horseback, or by vehicle. However, we are permitted (depending on locale and applicable laws) to stalk and kill them suddenly and instantly with bow and arrow, shotgun, rifle or handgun (and by bear spear, if you are Ted Nugent).
Probably it is the difference between wanting to preserve the animal's utility (as pelt or meat) as opposed to running them until they are exhausted and then letting them be ripped to pieces by the dogs for "sport." (Although I have to acknowledge that dogs are used in some parts of the country to run down and tree certain types of game.)
What I was trying to ascertain is if the law still permitted the taking of these animals (presumably by firearm) if dogs were not used in the process of stalking and killing them. Or has that type of hunting pretty much been banned in the UK as well?
Thanks. Precisely what I wanted to know.
. . .running them until they are exhausted and then letting them be ripped to pieces by the dogs for "sport."
In the United States, foxes are not run until they are exhausted and then ripped to pieces by the hounds. They are run for a few minutes until they decide they're bored and choose to go to ground in a hole or, in the case of gray foxes, climb a tree. It is rare indeed that they are killed. The only ones who die are extremely sick, usually dying of mange. And when they are killed, they're killed by a quick snap of the neck.
In the UK foxes have no predators or illnesses like rabies to reduce their numbers, so they have become a very serious agricultural pest, a predator that decimates poultry and devours lambs-aborning in the fields. Farmers in the UK welcome foxhunts because they can't deal with the foxes on their own. British agriculture is already struggling after their recent bouts of hoof-and-mouth disease, which represented an economic disaster, and the last thing they need is more predators eating their stock.
Not being of the of the Eastern gentrified horse country people persuasion, I defer to your superior knowledge concerning the details of chasing foxes (as opposed to hunting them) on horseback using dogs.
In the light of post #4:
>>The ancient sport of deerstalking is still legal and will continue unchanged. (For those who don't know, stalking is done on foot and with rifles.) Shooting of foxes as vermin also remains legal, and will in fact increase if fox-hunting as vermin control ceases. The same goes for hares, but with rather more restrictions as they're a much scarcer animal.<<
Why aren't UK farmers capable of coping with the foxes (e.g., shooting them)?
Because foxes are sneaky, and because they're ordinarily nocturnal.
The hounds are needed to roust them out of their coverts (hidey-holes) in the daytime (they are much too clever to come out for a mere human).
Farmers in the UK welcome foxhunts because they can't deal with the foxes on their own.
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To be fair the hunters have not made their plight easy. For centuries they have gone on to other peoples land and ridden over crop filled fields causing much destruction.
I would say that the majority of farmers support fox hunting but these are the ones who have not had their land damaged by a hunt.
Personally I think it is a waste of time and money to create or enforce this ban.
I am not voting Labour for other reasons though (military, EU etc etc ad nauseum). I am going Tory all the way!
A variety of reasons. One of them is that's it's irritating to have to sit up until the foxes show up at 2 in the morning, night after night, since that's when foxes come and eat chickens or newborn lambs. Farmers have historically found it difficult to shoot foxes in the darkness. And the UK doesn't have the most generous gun laws.
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