A ban on hunting would destroy or endanger 33,000 jobs, it was claimed yesterday. The Campaign for Hunting, which is backed by the Masters of Foxhounds Association, the British Field Sports Society and the National Hunting Club, said the effect of a ban on the rural economy would be devastating.
The campaign was launched last month after a public outcry over an incident in which followers of the Quorn were filmed digging out a fox that had gone to ground and releasing it to the hounds. According to hunt rules, the fox should have been shot humanely or allowed to run away.
On February 14, MPs are to be given a free vote on a private member's bill introduced by Kevin McNamara, a Labour frontbencher, that would make it a criminal offence to cause unnecessary suffering to a wild mammal and would outlaw such pursuits as fox-hunting, stag-hunting and hare-coursing. The bill needs the support of at least 100 MPs to succeed. Colin Cullimore, former head of the Dewhurst chain of high street butchers, who is running the pro-hunting campaign, said: "This bill is unacceptable in a democracy and is the thin end of a very dangerous wedge."
According to research by the campaign, about 9,500 full-time professional hunt officials, terriermen, fence builders and kennel and stable staff depend directly on hunting. Another 23,500 associated jobs, including those of farriers, feed merchants, saddlers, and vets, could be affected by a ban.
Glossy brochures released yesterday make much of hunting's contribution to the conservation of hedgerows, stone walls and copses. The literature also claims that without hunting 20,000 foxhounds, harriers, beagles and basset and mink hounds could have to be destroyed.
Robin Webb, a former RSPCA council member, was expelled from the charity yesterday after he disclosed that he was press officer for the Animal Liberation Front.
