WE WILL shortly see the imagery and propaganda from the pro-hunt campaign as they would have us believe support for hunting remains strong (yesterday’s Oxford Mail).

As the pro-hunt lobby gathers for their annual Boxing Day meet let us remember this is nothing more than a smokescreen designed to hide the barbaric truth about hunting. They want us to think that hunting is a tradition and a necessary part of rural life. However, tradition is no excuse for cruelty and tradition is no excuse for breaking the law.

With more than 400 convictions and with the support of 80 per cent of the British people (Ipsos MORI 2014), the Hunting Act is both an effective and popular piece of legislation.

Hunting is nothing but a cruel and barbaric pastime which inflicts terrible suffering on wild animals such as foxes, hares, deer and others. Plenty of domestic animals and pets are also killed when the hunt rampages close to people’s homes. Over 10 years the hunting ban has proven that hunting has nothing to do with wildlife management.

There is no credible evidence at all that fox numbers have increased since the ban while the number of brown hares continues to decline.

David Cameron has twice now tried to water down and weaken the Hunting Act, most recently this summer. But the hunting ban has overwhelming public support plus support across all political parties, social classes and in both urban and rural areas. So let’s not fall for this annual festive deceit. Cruelty remains wrong at every time of the year and no festive facade can hide it.

ANDREW COLES
Farmington Drive, Witney