CONGRATULATIONS to the RSPCA on its historic victory in convicting the Heythrop Hunt and two of its members for breaking the Hunting Act (Oxford Mail, December 18).

No genuine animal lover would differentiate between the suffering of the hunted fox and that of a dog or cat torn to pieces or otherwise abused for the sadistic gratification of the perpetrators.

Furthermore, the state (especially this ‘Countryside Alliance’ Government) will never engage in such prosecutions except with the intention of dropping them at a later stage.

The reporting in much of the media was predictably highly subjective. I have never known of an instance where the BBC has allowed a convicted and totally unrepentant criminal to try to justify his crime outside the court immediately after the hearing.

The public are not so naïve as to believe the claim by the Heythrop Hunt that it is engaged in legitimate trail hunting but even if this were found not to be a scam, the use of fox urine can be seen as a form of incitement.

The hunt states that it uses this because it expects Cameron’s Government to overturn the Hunting Act but this would be against the wishes of the vast majority of the electorate and the majority of Conservative voters.

Fox urine is imported from American fur farms and involves great suffering for the animals.

Badger baiting was banned in 1835 but still goes on and these people, in their arrogance, will also doubtless continue to believe that they are above the law, especially since they exert such a powerful and malign influence in our society. The RSPCA should not be deterred from conducting similar prosecutions where the evidence is available.

MARK PRITCHARD

Linkside Avenue

Oxford