Shooting hares in England to be banned for most of the year | Hunting
Shooting rabbits will be banned in England for most of the year as part of sweeping changes to animal welfare law.
Currently, it is legal to shoot animals during the breeding season; Pregnant rabbits die from blood loss, and as a result their offspring are often orphaned.
Ministers are also expected to announce a ban on trail hunting, in which hounds follow scent rather than tracking a live animal. It was a manifesto pledge and the new animal welfare strategy to be unveiled on Monday is understood to outline a planned legislative path towards the ban.
Campaigners have long said the rules need to be tightened because foxes are still being torn apart by dogs that follow artificial fox scent and run into the path of a live animal.
Nature minister Mary Creagh said: “Brown hares are a treasured part of our countryside, an iconic British species, and it is absolutely wrong for so many of them to be shot during the breeding season. I am determined to stop this wonderful animal from extinction.”
It is hoped that the full animal welfare package will also boost morale among Labor MPs and voters after months of intra-party squabbling, continued rises in the cost of living and a prolonged decline in the polls.
Previous survey showed 79% of the public thought so The law on fox hunting should be tightened to prevent the accidental killing of foxes in trail hunting. Labor sources said their polls showed 85% of the public believed it was a moral duty to protect animal welfare.
In the new closed season, rabbit hunting will be banned during the breeding months between February and October to protect mothers and cubs. Currently, rabbits are shot for their meat, for entertainment, and because some rural landowners believe the animals are overcrowded there.
However, the claim that the countryside is overpopulated with rabbits is questionable. Brown hare populations in England and Wales have declined by 80% in the last century.
Former Conservative environment secretary George Eustice tried to implement a close season for the rabbits while in office but was thwarted by No.10.
He told the Guardian: “The first principle of conservation is to protect species throughout the breeding season, so it is excellent news that the government has now established a modern close season for hunting rabbits. “Each year, around 200,000 rabbits are killed in organized commercial shooting in February and March, and this has a devastating effect on orphaned hares who are left to starve to death.
“Even the Victorians were aware that the season had to be closed, but the 1892 law was based on a ban on sales, so it no longer works. The current government deserves credit for finally making this important change.”
