Local hunts handed Government contracts (From Gazette & Herald)

Local hunts handed Government contracts

THE Government has handed key contracts for disposing of dead animals to North Yorkshire hunts - reigniting the bitter row over a hunting ban.

The hunts will help ministers meet tough EU biosecurity guidelines by collecting the fallen stock from farmers.

The Masters of Foxhounds Association said the list included Sinnington Hunt, York and Ainsty South, Middleton, in Malton, and Bedale, Harworth and West of Yore, all in Northallerton. Other local hunts could also take part, it said.

Hunt supporters said the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) would look "ridiculous" if it now attempted to force through a ban.

Ryedale MP John Greenway said: "What this shows is that the hunts are part of the fabric of the rural community, where one activity is dependent upon another. The Government cannot have it both ways on this."

Simon Hart, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said the Government would face "vast fines" if it failed to adhere to the EU's disposal rules. The EU animal by-products regulation bans the routine on-farm burial and burning of animal carcasses.

Mr Hart added: "It is ironic that it is the same DEFRA ministers who have voted for a ban on hunting who are now relying on hunt kennels to help them comply with EU legislation. They have tried to outlaw the very people who are helping them."

But a spokesman for anti-hunt MPs, who want to see a bill to ban hunting re-introduced before Parliament's summer recess in July, said they were talking "out of their hats".

Hunting could be banned without stopping the hunts taking part in the fallen stock scheme.

The spokesman said: "The objection to hunting is that they chase and kill animals.

"They could chase an artificial scent and still use their dogs and ride their horses dressed in their outfits and people could still cheer them on.

"The only difference is that people would not be cheering them on to kill a wild animal."

Under the scheme, farmers can either make their own arrangements to dispose of dead animals or pay an administration fee - estimated at around £25 - to join the £20m Government-subsidised scheme.

Farmers will be able to choose their preferred collector, and pay costs by monthly variable direct debit according to the amount of stock collected the previous month. The fallen stock will be fed to the hounds.

Nationwide, half the contractors involved in the scheme will be hunts.

Updated: 11:54 Wednesday, May 19, 2004