Protesters want to protect ban on hunting with dogs
ANIMAL rights activists will take to the streets of Exeter and Sidmouth as part of a campaign to protect the ban on hunting with dogs.
Animal Aid volunteers are staging the demonstrations on Saturday as part of a national day of action to save the hunt ban, which the Conservatives say they want a free vote on in the House of Commons.
The public will be invited to view a film of hare coursing at the events, in Sidmouth's Market Square from 9am to 10am and in Exeter's Bedford Square from 11.15am until noon.
Animal Aid says opinion polls consistently show that around 75 per cent of the UK public are opposed to hunting and the ban has been responsible for 140 prosecutions.
The charity believes a free vote might mean the 2004 Hunting Act would be repealed.
But opponents of the act say it is unworkable and police forces are unwilling to enforce it.
Mark Gold, Animal Aid's regional representative, said four Devon constituencies were being targeted.
He said: "In the case of the apparently pro-hunt MPs — Hugo Swire in East Devon and Nick Harvey in North Devon — the question is whether they are really prepared to ignore public opinion by helping to legalise not only fox hunting, but also hare coursing and stag hunting."
Comments
by Chris Curran, Tiverton
Wednesday, September 15 2010, 11:35PM
“It's not just Hugo Swire and Nick Harvey, that's por hunt, it's also Nick Parish, Tiverton & Honiton.
It's utter rubbish to say the Hunting Act doesn't work when there have been 140 prosecutions since it was introduced in 2005. That is a better record than many other Acts. And as far as saying it is difficult to enforce - that's because Tony Blair made a point of saying make it difficult to enforce - as confessed in his autobiography.”