IN her recent letter Police must continue to enforce hunt laws, Points of view, June 17, Helen Weeks makes another plea for a 'reckless behaviour' clause to be added to the Hunting Act.

Such a clause would prohibit hunts from going anywhere they might encounter a wild animal because if it were flushed out or chased even by accident they would be made criminals.

It's worth noting some figures for wildlife accidentally killed on our roads, estimated by The People's Trust for Endangered Species.

Foxes — 100,000

Deer — 50,000

Badgers — 50,000

Hedgehogs — 15,000

These figures do not include countless smaller mammals and over a million birds. Many of them are not killed outright but badly wounded and left to die an agonising death by the side of the road.

Moreover many dog owners who allow their dogs off the lead will know their animals occasionally flush out a wild animal. They know this cannot be helped, which is why the reckless behaviour clause seeks to exclude dog owners.

Why do they want to penalise Hunts for accidentally chasing the odd fox or deer while allowing people to accidentally chase, run down and kill so many animals?

How can this have anything to do with animal welfare? It's just targeting the few for the sins of the many.

Moreover, both the Government and the courts insist there can be no such thing as accidental hunting because hunting is an intentional activity.

Making something illegal that cannot exist would make the law even more laughable than it is at present.

As a keen cyclist, I wish people would slow down on country roads and drive more carefully. It would save a lot of human as well as animal misery.

Giles Bradshaw

Rose Ash, South Molton

(by email)