Putting a Point on the Absurdity

From The Daily Telegraph

Hunt Man Turns Himself in After Dog Kills Mouse by Paul Stokes

A retired police officer has admitted twice flouting the new hunting law by allowing his terrier dog to chase and kill a mouse and a mole.

George Morrison, 51, reported himself to former colleagues but he was not prosecuted over either incident.

In the first case, the dog, named Chip, flushed a mole from beneath a horse trailer before swiftly killing it in June last year.

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Two months later, Chip chased a mouse from behind the washing machine at the family home and went on to make another kill.

Mr Morrison served with Northumbria Police for 30 years before retiring as a detective inspector three months after the Government's Hunting Act came into force in February last year.

He turned himself in to the police on both occasions to demonstrate that the 2004 Hunting Act was a "ridiculous law".

Under the legislation, moles and mice are classed as mammals that cannot be killed by dogs, although they can be shot by a competent huntsman.

Mr Morrison said he was not taken seriously when he reported himself, but was eventually cautioned. He was later told no further action would be taken.

When Chip repeated the offence, the matter was again brought to police attention and a sergeant and constable conducted a second interview.

Again the Crown Prosecution Service did not bring proceedings.

Mr Morrison, who lives with his wife Karen in the Tyne Valley, Northumberland, said: "I knew they wouldn't take me to court because there would have been a media frenzy. Putting myself in a police officer's role, this Act is a nightmare and something they didn't want to enforce."

Since retiring from the police service, he has remained as secretary of the 137-year-old Border Hunt, which was set up to control foxes over a large area of Northumberland and Roxburghshire.

He has gone public on the issue ahead of the second season of hunting since the ban came into effect to draw attention to the state of the law. Mr Morrison stressed that the hunt, which he will head out with next week, operated within the law.

"This law was not about animal welfare, it was about trying to get so-called toffs and red jackets," he said. "But it is rural communities it is affecting."

Chief Insp Simon Packham, of Northumbria Police, said: "We did refer two cases to the CPS regarding this individual, but no further action was taken."

The only material available to police against Mr Morrison were his own admissions in his statements.

A CPS spokesman said: "There was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of a conviction."

Richard Dodd, the regional director of the Countryside Alliance, said: "George is helping to make the point that this law is not about foxes, but is about revenge from the Government about things such as the miners' strikes."

Meanwhile, out in the farm country, the veterinarians and the farmers have joined hands to try to get DEFRA (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) in the UK to tackle a proliferation of badgers which are believed to be spreading bovine tuberculosis, which is now appearing even in closed herds.


From Farmers Weekly Interactive of 06/09/2006

Industry call for DEFRA to allow badger cull to reduce bovine TB risk

Farming and veterinary organisations in the UK have presented a joint statement to DEFRA detailing how the government should tackle bovine tuberculosis.

At a meeting last Thursday (24 August) the group agreed several points, the main being that badgers in areas heavily affected by TB should be culled.

The government, they say, should approve applications for culling licences as permitted under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.

But the group does not suggest farmers carry out the culling. Instead they should employ suitably trained individuals to do it.

Crucially, the proposals give industry control of the operation while minimising the cost to the government. They also allow DEFRA to remain distant from the issue, other than the approval of licences and provision of suitable maps.

In accordance with the Independent Scientific Group's conclusions of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial, the group also advocates culls are carried out across areas of at least 300sq km by urging farmers to collaborate with their neighbours.

Initially, the culling method would be cage trapping followed by shooting (as used in the RBCT). But it suggests carbon monoxide and, possibly, stop-snares be adopted as first choice methods once approved.

Meurig Raymond, deputy president of the NFU, said: "We've done all we can here. We've agreed a position which will involve farmers continuing to put up with cost and inconvenience, but as part of a partnership approach with government.

"This agreement has now been issued to the minister, Ben Bradshaw. This places the ball very firmly in the government's court. We're prepared to play our part, are they prepared to play theirs?"

British Veterinary Association president Freda Scott-Park endorsed Mr Raymond's comments saying the time had come for some joined-up thinking.

"We're very much supportive of the NFU and its mature approach. As a dairy farmer I know how challenging farming is. With TB it's even worse. As a veterinary surgeon it is quite distressing to see the disease expanding year on year. We are particularly concerned by the number of closed herds going down with TB."

Dr Scott-Park added that she often hoped to achieve consensus across all groups involved in the TB debate, including conservationists, if only they would listen to reason.

DEFRA is understood to be reviewing the statement.