Welfare aspects of hunting red deer with hounds

Extract

Following long-running disputes between those in favour and those against the hunting of red deer with hounds on the lands it owns, the National Trust (a charity that owns and manages large amounts of land in the UK) commissioned Professor Patrick Bateson, Professor of Ethology and Provost of King's College, Cambridge, to study the welfare aspects of this form of deer hunting. The conclusion of the two-year study, which was scrutinized prior to publication by an independent panel of 14 eminent zoologists and veterinarians (including members nominated by bodies for and against deer hunting), was unambiguous: ‘…The study produced clear-cut scientific results. These show that lengthy hunts with hounds impose extreme stress on red deer and are likely to cause them great suffering. The hunts force them to experience conditions far outside the normal limits for their species…. ‘. In the light of this report, the Council of the National Trust promptly and unanimously agreed on 11th April 1997 to end deer hunting with hounds on the lands it owns.