GC The Rt Hon Alun Michael MP 12 November 2004 You will be aware that The British Horse Society has not publicly supported those who argue that a ban on hunting with hounds is anti-libertarian, nor those who fear grave economic consequences for equestrian businesses, nor yet those who are sceptical as to the true motives of anti-hunt campaigners. This reticence should not be taken as an indication that the Society implicitly and actively rejects arguments based on these premises (although an organisation of some 60,000 members will inevitably encompass all shades of opinion, for and against). Rather, it is a simple reflection of the fact that the Society’s charitable objectives preclude our campaigning on these grounds. However, the welfare of horses is one of the Society’s primary concerns and it is therefore right that we should advise the Government if we believe that an action it proposes to take could adversely affect equine welfare. And it is because the Society believes that those campaigning for a total ban have signally to recognise the risk to horse welfare that we urge the Government to work hard to achieve what we understand to be the Prime Minister’s desideratum ¾ a sensible middle way. Horses bred mainly or solely for hunting are not pets, nor would anyone who understands horse breeding argue that these are in any sense general purpose horses who could move effortlessly into riding schools or be sold into the hacking market. By temperament and conformation these are strong and vigorous animals ¾ horses for courses, one might say. Moreover, it is these genetic traits of strength, agility and stamina which make them so important to the development of our top sports horses. To expect these hunting horses to thrive in roles for which they are not suited by breeding would be as unrealistic as to expect trained sheepdogs to thrive as family pets. One need only reflect on the impossibility of rehabilitating every one of the racehorses who are retired each year to appreciate that a sudden influx into the market of thousands of redundant hunters would be beyond the capacity of equine welfare organisations to manage. Some will undoubtedly be slaughtered, others will be forced into roles for which they are wholly unsuited. Non-hunters who confidently assert that those who currently hunt foxes will happily transmute into drag-hunters (in much the same way, one presumes, that anglers would happily transmute into duckers for apples if fishing were to be banned) have yet to explain the evidential basis for their assertions. Given that the life of the horse is measured in decades rather than months, the proposal that a ban be legislated for but with implementation delayed by some months does not address the issue. The British Horse Society therefore strongly counsels the Government to acknowledge that a total ban on fox hunting could be detrimental to the welfare of thousands of horses. It further urges the Government to acknowledge that this issue must be dealt with according to principle, not prejudice. If the Government should resile from its original proposals and legislate for a total ban, the Society would welcome sight of the Government’s own calculations on how the surfeit of horses bred for hunting will be managed in a way which does not compromise their welfare. In view of the interest of our members in safeguarding the welfare of horses, Graham M Cory Chief Executive
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