Those that say the Hunting Act does not work, is an awful piece of legislation and should be repealed, suffered a blow last week when a parliamentary question proved once again that the Act is one of the most successful pieces of animal welfare legislation.
The Labour Party’s shadow secretary of state for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Mary Creagh MP, asked Minister Richard Benyon MP how many people had been proceeded against and found guilty under a range of animal welfare laws. The answer was revealing for it shows that in 2009 under the Hunting Act, 92 people were proceeded against, with 59 being found guilty, and last year (2010) 49 people were proceeded against with 36 found guilty.
Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for selected animal related offences, England and Wales, 2009-10(1,2)
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2009
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2010
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Statute
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Proceeded against
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Found guilty
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Proceeded against
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Found guilty
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Protection of Badgers Act 1992, Sections 1-5 and 10
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44
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26
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40
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23
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Protection of Badgers Act 1992, section 13
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6
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4
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8
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6
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Deer Act 1991
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3
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2
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10
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5
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Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996
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8
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5
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6
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4
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Hunting Act 2004
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92
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59
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49
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36
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It is clear to see that with greater enforcement of the Act these
numbers will increase, and we are working with the police to see that this happens, but the fact remains that a significant number of
people are being prosecuted and convicted under the Act, so to say it
is ’unworkable’ is nothing short of farcical.
Surely, by this same logic, the hunters should be arguing for a repeal of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 as fewer people were proceeded against and found guilty in both the past two years. Or maybe even a repeal of the Deer Act 1991 and Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 because they actually have far fewer convictions than the Hunting Act! But no, these pieces of legislation do not get targeted in the same way. The Hunting Act is being specifically targeted because it outlaws a brutally cruel bloodsport that the hunters enjoy and want to bring back for their own entertainment. This attack on the legislation has nothing to do with genuine concerns about animal welfare of the effectiveness of the law. Why on earth would they want the law to be effective when they oppose its entire objectives and motives?!
Let us be clear here, the Hunting Act does work, there are convictions every single year which demonstrates this. There are those who are sticking two fingers up to the law and breaking the Act, but we are investing heavily in this area to bring those criminals to justice.
Just because there are those that are insisting on breaking the law does not mean it is 'bad law' it just means we need to work harder to ensure the Act is properly enforced. It is absolutely clear that the Hunting Act is one of the most successful pieces of animal welfare legislation, and is only being targetted because it is actually stopping those that want to kill animals for fun.