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Podcast: Hunting Act challenge

A week-long legal challenge to end the ban on fox hunting, ended in the House of Lords yesterday.

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To listen to the PODCAST of the interview with Brian Friend directly after he had finished his presentation to the five Law Lords, press PLAY below:

The Countryside Alliance and the Union of Country Sports Workers invoked the Human Rights Act and European trade laws by claiming their members’ livelihoods have been affected by the ban.

The Countryside Alliance’s Simon Hart commented: “We have always believed that the Hunting Act was based on prejudice, rather than principle or evidence, and that it has no justification in terms of animal welfare or public benefit.”

Richard Gordon QC, who is representing the CA, said: “There are many for whom hunting is a core part of their lives and the rural communities in which they live.”

Mr Gordon argued that the ban, introduced to prevent unnecessary suffering to animals, was a “disproportionate” interference with the human rights of people whose way of life revolves around the hunt.

A ruling on the case is due later on in the year.

The rest of the article will appear in 18 October issue of Shooting Times.