'I had death threats in fight for hunting ban'

Ex-MP Mike Foster had little idea a campaign initiated by his constituents to ban hunting with dogs would lead to death threats and panic buttons being installed at his home amid fears for his family.

Now, 20 years after the Hunting Act he spearheaded became law Mr Foster, then Worcester MP, remembers how all those worries suddenly became "part of the day job".

It had all begun in 1997 when as a new MP he "drew number one" in the ballot for MPs to bring private member's bills to parliament.

Two decades later, their remains tension among the hunting and animals rights fraternities over how the law is applied.

Mr Foster was part of the Labour intake after his party's election landslide in 1997, and he said coming first enabled him to pretty much bring forward whatever legislation he wanted.

However, he decided to leave the subject to the people he served and asked a local paper to organise a poll to ask constituents what their most burning issues were.

The result showed a majority wanting to see hunting with dogs banned - and it came after Labour's manifesto pledge that, if elected, it would allow a free vote on the issue.

The paper counted the responses and the scene was set for the private member's bill to be the tool to deliver that promise, and "my adventure with the issues with hunting with dogs began", Mr Foster said.

"It could have caused me immense difficulty had they voted for something I didn't want to do - but that was the risk I took," he remembered.

"But I genuinely, perhaps naively, as a new MP wanted to make sure the views of my constituents were being taken on board."

The act became law on 18 February 2005, making it illegal to use dogs to chase foxes, deer, hares and other wild animals.

There were some exemptions built in, such as trail hunting, which was introduced as a "cruelty-free" replacement.

Trail hunting involves using a rag soaked in animal scent, which is then dragged along to lay a trail for the hunt to follow.

Inevitably though, dogs can encounter a real fox, and the law said that under those circumstances the hunt was meant to call them off.

However, critics say trail hunting has been exploited as a smokescreen by hunts to enable them to continue killing foxes and hares.

"I hoped once the act was passed.. the law abiding community.. would literally obey the law and that would be the end of it," Mr Foster said.

"Unfortunately, that is not what happened."

In the build up to the controversial bill becoming law, he said he and his family were confronted with a stark reality about their safety because of his campaign.

"There was a bombardment of mail - thankfully social media didn't exist in the way it does now, otherwise it would have been totally impossible," he said.

"We went through the gambit of death threats, threats to the family, and my kids were really young at the time.

"When you see something arrive in the post suggesting that your three kids are fed to the dogs, it might have been a nutter, but part of you will go, 'Oh god, is this where we really want to be?'.

"My kids grew up knowing there was security in the home and a button they weren't allowed to touch.

"We literally had a little box in the upstairs and a button by our bed that wasn't a remote for the TV, it was there for a purpose.

"The issue that perhaps a lot of people don't fully understand is that Monday to Thursday night, you're in Westminster, so my wife and three young kids were on their own in Worcester and it doesn't take a genius to work out where you live. It was difficult."

It was not something he anticipated when he became an MP, but Mr Foster praised West Mercia Police and others who were "absolutely tremendous" in helping them remain safe.

"When you have to give details of what school your kids go to and what routes they take to school, you take it seriously," he said.

Mr Foster was defeated in the 2010 general election by Conservative Robin Walker. But in 2015, two days before a parliamentary free vote on changes to the law in England and Wales, Mr Foster revealed he found a dead fox on his driveway.

In December, the government said it was committed to a trail hunting ban, citing its use as a loophole and smokescreen to kill foxes.

However Chris Bowers, 38, a trail layer for the Ledbury Hunt in Herefordshire, said he adhered to the law, but was so concerned about being monitored that he videos what he does.

"There's so much talk that we're not doing it correctly that we have this as evidence that we are doing it correctly, so if anything comes back on us we've got proof and evidence to say we are hunting within the law," he said.

"It does seem not the way of life, but we've got restrictions put in place and we have to adhere to them."

Mr Bowers felt trail hunting "works" and accepted "it was the way it is now", but it is untrue trails lead to animals getting hurt.

"These hounds can go through fields of sheep, fields of lambs, they don't even look at them," he said.

"They are trained for this. They know what they're following, following the huntsman, following the trail."

However Emma, who monitors hunts as a member of Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs, said she had seen evidence that foxes were still being killed.

"If hunting actually stopped I would have so many other things I would prefer to be doing," she said.

"I wouldn't be out there unless I absolutely believed that animals were being killed still, which they are."

Trail hunters were "going out intentionally to hunt animals" in areas likely to have wild animal populations, she said.

Hunting groups have had 20 years "to get on top of this", she added.

Twenty years on, does Mr Foster think the law should be tighten to eliminate the the likes of trail hunting?

"I say this reluctantly, but yes I think we do," he said.

"There was always this dilemma that we grappled with - having a pure ban on hunting with dogs that made it difficult to enforce... against something that wasn't a complete ban, let's say a licensing scheme, but is very easy to enforce.

"At the moment there are grey-ish areas that can only be concluded in court.

"We ended up saying actually, going for a pure ban is probably better on animal welfare grounds and then we just accept or hope that the enforcement of the law... comes through in time."

Ultimately though, Mr Foster hoped as well that under the law people would still be able to climb into the saddle.

"We wanted people to still have a ride on their horse and the thrill and excitement of all that - we just didn't want an animal to suffer at the end of the day and unfortunately we're going to have to deal with trail hunting, I think," he added.

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