Nuturing them to kill them

9:05am Thursday 30th August 2001

I COULD not agree more with Penny Little's excellent letter ('Trying to restart bloodsports,' August 17). Their desperation to hunt, before foot and mouth ceases, demonstrates more effectively than anything I could say, how little hunters care about the countryside and farmers' livelihoods.

The League Against Cruel Sports has recently uncovered yet another case of a hunt encouraging foxes to breed in their hunting territory to ensure there are enough animals to kill. The artificial earths consisting of carefully constructed wooden chambers sunken into the ground and connected to a network of piping to act as tunnels were found by investigators on land known to be frequented by the Southdown and Eridge Fox Hounds.

One was identified as containing live foxes, whilst another, is known to be a favourite spot for 'cubhunting,' one of the most cruel and barbaric parts of hunting, where hounds are trained to hunt using young fox cubs as bait.

Foxhunters ruthlessly maintain that their activities are a vital form of pest control; the discovery of man made fox chambers proves that they have an active programme of encouraging foxes to breed in order to ensure a constant supply for hunting. This is the ugly reality of hunting with dogs.

To obtain a free copy of Chaos in the Countryside the secret face of hunting exposed featuring a local hunt, the Bicester annd Whaddon Chase, call the LACS on 020 7403 6155.

Alternatively email Protect Our Wild Animals (POWA) at wapowa@aol.com for further footage of local hunt mayhem. Please be warned that the the British Board of Film censors (BBFC) has said that the longer version of 'Chaos' is not suitable viewing for young people. Launching Labour's manifesto, Tony Blair's told the press: "It is important, since the present Bill has fallen, that we bring it back."

Hunting cannot be banned until the Government places the Bill before the House of Commons. Please write to Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street, London SW1A 2AA to help ensure he keeps his promise.

Judy Gilbert

Water End Road

Beacons Bottom

High Wycombe

Theatre, Art & Cinema