Sinn Fein urged to 'think very carefully' about Alliance hunting bill - as pro-ban group admits gundog restrictions
A pro-hunting lobby group has urged Sinn Fein to carefully consider a proposed ban on hunting with dogs, as anti-hunt activists acknowledge it will mean restrictions on the use of gundogs in Northern Ireland.
At its ard fheis last month, the party narrowly backed a ban on fox hunting with dogs “for the sole purpose of leisure” – and mandated the party to ensure that any ban “does not unduly impact rural life”.
There is concern within elements of Sinn Fein that proposals from the Alliance Party would encroach on other rural activities like shooting – and the Countryside Alliance has urged its MLAs to “think very carefully about the damage this appalling bill could have on rural people across the country”.
Sinn Fein votes will prove crucial in deciding whether the law progresses through the Assembly in a key vote on Tuesday.
It comes as a lobby group supporting the bill acknowledges it would place restrictions on the use of gundogs for shooting. The dogs are not used to catch or kill prey, but instead to flush them from cover to be shot, and to retrieve them.
Earlier this week the Together Campaign – comprising the USPCA and the League Against Cruel Sports – claimed that the bill would not impact other practices such as deer stalking.
Asked by the News Letter if it could rebut concerns about the impact on the use of dogs to flush out wild mammals for shooting, the group stated its interpretation that no more than two dogs could be used.
In response to concerns about the law containing no exemptions for the use of dogs in shooting for food, the group said that rabbits could be hunted as they “cause serious damage to crops, vegetables, and fruit” – which is an exemption from the ban. There are no exemptions for sport or hunting for food.
Last year, the MLA behind the Hunting With Dogs Bill, John Blair, told the News Letter that the law is not only aimed at fox hunts, but also deer hunting and “other forms of hunting where dogs are used to flush or kill rabbits”. He later said that is not his intent – and the law is primarily about fox-hunting with dogs.
The proposed legislation has now been published, sparking concern among those involved in other field sports like shooting that it will have implications far beyond banning fox hunts.
It would ban hunting wild mammals with dogs and trail hunting, as well as “terrier work”. There are exemptions for management of wild animals using dogs above ground - providing no more than two dogs are involved.
However, the exemptions relate purely to preventing damage to crops or livestock; preventing the spread of disease; preserving human health or preventing serious damage to the biological diversity of an area.
Use of more than two dogs would be considered a pack and therefore illegal.
On Tuesday, MLAs will decide whether to let the bill proceed to the scrutiny stage. That scrutiny process will be led by the agriculture committee, chaired by the Ulster Unionist MLA Robbie Butler, a supporter of a fox-hunting ban.
The last time Mr Blair brought similar legislation before the Assembly it was backed by the UUP. However, there is concern about its wider implications among some MLAs and party members.
DUP MLAs have a free vote on the issue, and a majority are expected to oppose it, as is the TUV’s Timothy Gaston. Opponents want the bill stopped on Tuesday before it reaches committee stage.
Last time, Sinn Fein opposed the ban, but it is unclear how it will vote this time. The SDLP and Alliance will back the ban.