I WELCOME Penny Little's recent letter, Write now to ensure hunting is stopped, Points of view, March 24.

When the Hunting Act finally became law in 2004 the Government insisted that it was both 'clear and enforceable'.

This, like so much emitted by the Labour Government, was complete nonsense.

In the recent High Court appeal against the Tony Wright judgement their advice as to what is and isn't illegal was ruled to be wrong.

The law was not clear. Moreover the CPS stated that if the ruling went as it did then the law would be left 'wholly unworkable' and 'virtually unenforceable'.

However, Penny's suggestion that people be made criminals for taking their dogs into woodland and other areas where they might put up a wild mammal is completely ridiculous. She does not seem to understand that the countryside is full of wild mammals. My dogs often come across all sorts of wild mammals, yes sometimes they might chase one, but no real harm is done.

If the law was changed as she suggests I for one would ignore it as I am sure many dog owners would. Laws which are widely ignored and flouted because of their absurdity are bad laws. Both sides now accept that the Hunting Act has failed. We need a full debate on what steps should now be taken in which all sides are involved.

The best way forward would be to replace the Hunting Act with a piece of legislation that gave a legal definition of cruelty and banned all deliberate cruelty to wild mammals howsoever caused. I cannot see why anyone would oppose such legislation.

Giles Bradshaw

Rose Ash

(by email)