Confusionover hunt bill concession

14 February 2001



‘Confusion’over hunt bill concession

GOVERNMENT attempts to ban hunting have been thrown into confusion by concessions over using dogs to flush out deer, says The Daily Telegraph.

The newspaper says ministers were forced to make amendments that would allow a person with a gun to send dogs to chase and corner a deer.

This is so the deer could be shot at close range — provided the person pulling the trigger was doing this at part of their job.

Hunt supporters accused ministers of making legislation without any idea of the unintended effects on country life.

This would allow a gamekeeper to flush out and kill a diseased or injured deer, using almost the same methods as those who hunt deer for sport.

Concessions were wrung out during the committee stage of the Hunting Bill which ended on Tuesday (13 February).

The Telegraph says there is little prospect of the bill becoming law before the general election.