Appalling excuse and the Crown Prosecution Service has many questions to answer for over their interpretation of law. This case should not have been dropped, the video is more than clear that this was animal cruelty. Science never came into it.
You do know we have an over-population of deer correct? And we have to cull them every year anyway? So if to say we had to get a happy balance between those who hunt and those who are anti-hunters why not just ask or push in court if one/several riders plus anyone following on the quads for the pick up of the stag have to dismount and shoot the deer before it is possibly caused excess pain by the hounds. I know to anti-hunters this still isn't quite what you want but seeing as we have to cull deer anyway this just means that it removes excess pain as shooting the thing kills it outright. Most deer stalkers in Scotland will not shoot unless they have an instant kill shot at the heart and if that does not happen they quickly pursue the poor thing so it isn't in distress for too long. This approach of having people in the hunt to dismount can also be applied to other hunting such as fox hunting in which the animal could be removed and shot humanely before the hounds get fully into it, or in an area with low foxes released once checked over and the hounds are away. If this is practiced further it would also make the hounds accustomed to moving away from the prey to let the hunters in, meaning at some point down the line less excess pain. I am not trying to say preventing should be wrong, just that we need to manage some aspects of our wildlife as we do not have a natural predator and unfortunately that means some species such as deer need to be culled. It would be preferable if the meat was then used in this country but I believe most of it is taken and sold to other countries rather then being used here. It would also mean less stress for the sabs and the hunters as sabs could fulfil the roll of an extra pair of eyes and ears for tracking where the fox/other animal is to remove it safely and quickly from the hounds. In reality for this is probably never going to happen but in the ideal world. I'm also fairly sure many people here are going to absolutely hate me for this idea haha.
