Stag Hunting

HC Deb 17 July 1958 vol 591 cc1421-2

21. Mr. Rankin

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reply he proposes to send to the letter he has received from Mr. Russell W. Fuller, the United States school-teacher, who filmed the final episodes in the hunting of a stag.

Mr. Renton

My right hon. Friend has thanked Mr. Fuller for the trouble which he took to set out so fully what he saw, and has told him that he cannot add to the replies that he gave to the hon. Member on 15th May or to the Report of the Committee on Cruelty to Wild Animals.

Mr. Rankin

Do the hon. and learned Gentleman and his right hon. Friend realise that the forces employed in hunting this animal were mechanised, were mounted and were on foot? Do they realise that nearly fifty people were employed, and how do they justify this wastage of human effort? Is it realised that as a result of this combined operation, the deer population was reduced by one stag? Cannot the hon. and learned Gentleman think of a less savage way of controlling the deer?

Mr. Renton

I certainly do not accept everything that the hon. Member has said in his supplementary question. The stag happened to attempt to jump a wire fence, which it failed to do, and instead of turning at bay, which is what generally happens, the stag was caught by the hounds. As the Committee on Cruelty to Wild Animals said, some suffering is involved in deer hunting. The Committee added, however, that this was no greater than would be involved in any other practicable method of control.

Mr. Rankin

Does the Minister realise that the stag failed to jump the fence because it had been hunted so long that it was completely exhausted?

Mr. Anthony Greenwood

Can the hon. and learned Gentleman say whether he and his right hon. Friend have open minds on the subject of whether further legislation for the protection of deer may be necessary?

Mr. Renton

We always keep open minds on all matters, but, as my right hon. Friend has made perfectly clear on several occasions previously, and as I wish to repeat, a Committee which reported on this matter went into it thoroughly and carefully, and we accept its conclusions.