§ MR. BUCHANAN (Edinburgh, W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received the Report he asked for from the chief constable, with reference to the alleged cruelties at a "rabbit coursing" meeting at the Crown Inn, Saltford, on 3rd February; what is the substance of the Report; and whether it confirms the account of the cruelties as related in the Bath Chronicle?
§ MR. MATTHEWSYes, Sir; I have received a Report from the chief constable, who informs mo that, in the judgment of a sergeant of police, a reliable man, who was present on the occasion, the report in the Bath Chronicle exaggerates what actually took place. The practice at the meeting was to let loose a rabbit and then two dogs. As soon as the dogs had both caught hold of the rabbit, it was taken from them by a man employed for that purpose. The report of the sergeant does not bear out the other allegations of the newspaper report.