Letter: Of pigs and foxes

Ben Stewart
Sunday 11 July 1999 23:02 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Sir: Deborah Orr suggests that the campaign to abolish fox-hunting is not driven by animal welfare concerns. Furthermore, she appears perplexed by my assertion that participants defend hunting with such vigour for the simple reason that they enjoy it so. I assure her this is the case. I was brought up in hunting country and my grandparents first met on a hunt.

The reason that hunting with dogs arouses such hostility is that it is patently unnecessary cruelty. At present 10 per cent of hunts chase only an artificial scent. All we ask is that the other 90 per cent follow suit. Drag-hunting, as it is called, is a burgeoning sport that will mushroom when the hunting of wild mammals with dogs is prohibited.

BEN STEWART

League Against Cruel Sports

London SE1

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in