I AGREE with Colin Richey that British soldiers in Afghanistan are more important than foxes, Why this flawed Act is not a priority for me, Letters, November 5.

However, I fail to see what this has to do with the Hunting Act.

I am sure people would not expect expenditure on enforcing the legislation to exceed the cost of maintaining the British military forces.

I can assure Mr Richey that to date the amount of public funds spent by the police on preventing the cruelty of hunting wild mammals with dogs for sport is virtually zero.

The best way to avoid resources being spent on the Hunting Act is for the hunting fraternity to respect the law of the land and comply with the wishes of the legislators.

We should be grateful to such organisations such as the Hunt Saboteurs Association and the League Against Cruel Sports who do not charge for their services.

It is quite understandable for Mr Richey to say he has very strong feelings on what pain some human beings inflict on their fellow humans.

But what I fail to understand is why some human beings take pleasure in inflicting pain on wild animals in the name of sport.

John Phelps

Argyll Road, Exeter