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Introduction

1. The NFU welcomes the opportunity to respond to the request for written evidence from the Committee of Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs. In the summer of 1997 the NFU called on the Government to conduct an independent inquiry into the implications of a ban on hunting with dogs for agriculture, animal welfare, and the rural economy, and we reiterated this call in July and October 1999. We therefore welcome the establishment of the Burns inquiry, and will be pleased to provide whatever assistance we can give to the committee in conducting its work.

2. The committee’s terms of reference encompass a wide range of complex issues, and the timetable set is a challenging one. As the leading representative body for farmers in England and Wales, the NFU has a keen interest in several aspects of the inquiry, in particular the role of hunting with dogs in relation to agriculture and pest control, the services which the existence of hunts provide for farming, and the additional opportunities which hunts provide for farmers to obtain income from diversified enterprises.

3. The NFU welcomes the research projects being commissioned by the inquiry and stands ready to assist the contractors, especially with regard to contracts 5 and 6 on the management of animal species and methods of controlling them. We would like to stress the importance of the committee seeing for itself in the field how important the use of dogs is in controlling agricultural pests.

4. This submission is intended to summarise the NFU’s views. Given the size of the task and the timetable we have assumed that the inquiry will appreciate an overview with illustrative examples rather than an exhaustive response on all aspects, to which it would anyway be hard to do justice in the limited time available. We have also sought to avoid unnecessary duplication of evidence we anticipate other bodies submitting to the inquiry.

5. The NFU has attended the Standing Conference on Countryside Sports since its inception in 1978, and co-operated with its research into the economic and conservation significance of the sports. In 1995 the NFU set up a working party to look at all aspects of agicultural pest management (chaired by the then Deputy President and now President, Ben Gill) which produced a report entitled "The Management of Agricultural Pests". A copy of that report, which discusses a number of the issues relevant to the inquiry's work and which continues to be relevant, accompanies this submission. In the summer of 1997 the NFU conducted an extensive consultation with its membership on the issues arising from the private member’s Bill then before Parliament to ban the practice of hunting with dogs. Our evidence draws on this work, taking into account developments since.

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6. The countryside has been fashioned by agricultural practice over centuries, through a dynamic and ever-changing balance between species and habitats. In creating the environment we inhabit and by removing certain natural habitats and species, society as a whole has distorted the natural balance of nature in a number of areas. As managers of the countryside, farmers play an important role in maintaining a wide range of flora and fauna in the countryside including playing their part in managing populations of certain mammals down the predator chain. The vast majority of farmers enjoy playing host to a variety of wildlife on their farms and encouraging biodiversity in the countryside.

7. There are a wide variety of possible problems caused to farmers by agricultural pests. These range from the more common problems of rabbit damage and fox predation on lambs which are very widespread to very localised problems only affecting certain parts of the country such as crop damage caused by flocks of brent geese. Farmers make judgements about the wildlife on their farms and their intimate knowledge of the land they manage means that they are in an advantaged position to decide the appropriate action to be taken in this regard. Pest control needs to be exercised at the right time of the year to make it worthwhile and effective. For example, a sheep farmer will primarily be concerned with predator control in the lead up to lambing time when numbers of foxes and other predators may need controlling. Some farmers, however, do not regard the fox as a pest, as foxes have a part to play in the control of rabbits and other small mammals including rats, for example. No bird or animal is always a pest; it is only when they conflict with other interests that they are regarded as such.

8. The NFU is firmly of the view that pest control cannot be considered in a single, uniform, national context. Each individual problem will require a different solution, a fact often overlooked by decision-makers and interest groups who favour blanket solutions and standard rules. Pest control requirements will vary sharply from one region to another and from one farm business to another depending on a range of circumstances. Indeed it is dangerous to generalise at all as for example a sheep farmer may suffer persistent predation by foxes which is not shared by his neighbours in the locality, perhaps because of his proximity to features such as woodland. Full regard must be had to the fact that problems caused by agricultural pests, whether they be foxes, deer, hares, mink or other species can have severe consequences for farmers' businesses.

9. There are many factors which will influence the choice of the most appropriate method of control in any given circumstance. Farmers have to take into account factors such as the nature and extent of the problem, the terrain, the proximity to an urban area, the location of public rights of way, the resources and equipment available, and the skill and expertise of the operator. Often the choice of control method will be quite limited. The NFU advocates the responsible use of pest control methods through the strict adherence to the available codes of practice produced by the responsible governing bodies.

10. Amongst the farming community, there are strong feelings about the importance of maintaining all of the current practised methods of pest control, not least the right to use dogs for the purpose of flushing out and/or taking mammalian pests. Experience has proven that in certain parts of Wales and the north of England, for example, where there is forestry land and inaccessible terrain, the use of dogs to flush out foxes is essential in controlling the predation of lambs, other young stock and wildlife. The use of scent hounds usually guarantees that "survival of the fittest" principles apply and the quarry caught and killed by the hounds are normally those which are weak, old or infirm. In the case of foxes, the weak, old and infirm are the most likely to cause problems to farmers as they will seek the most readily available food source demanding the least effort to acquire. This may include new-born lambs or farmyard poultry for example.

11. To illustrate the importance of the use of dogs in agricultural pest control we draw the inquiry’s attention to the procedures adopted for fox control in Wales and in the north-west of England. We would refer the inquiry to the accompanying evidence from NFU CymruwWales which describes the problems farmers face from pests, and refers to the work of the 100+ fox control societies in Wales. We would urge the committee to visit the Principality to gain an understanding of the problems faced by farmers and the ways in which they are tackled at first hand; NFU CymruwWales would be pleased to assist the inquiry in making the arrangements for such a visit.

12. Some local hunts offer a lamb call service to farmers whereby they will use the hounds to trace the particular fox culprit which has been preying on lambs or other stock. Dogs are also invaluable for finding injured deer, particularly in woodland. In numerous parts of the country where hunts operate farmers benefit from the service of collection of casualty animals, or second quality calves, by the hunts. This service is often free or at only a small charge and is much valued by farmers at a time when the traditional knackerman service has either declined or disappeared following the BSE crisis, or imposes significant charges which the hard-pressed livestock sector can ill afford. The dairy industry in particular values this service following the ending of the calf slaughter scheme and consequent surplus of second quality calves. A description of some of the arrangements for pest control in the north-west of England is appended to this submission to illustrate the role played by the hunts in close integration with farming, and here again we invite the committee to see for itself by visiting farms in Cumbria.

13. It is often suggested that the use of firearms to control pests as being an effective and humane alternative method of pest control to the use of hunting with dogs. However although firearms can be effective in the hands of trained and skilled marksmen they are not always the most appropriate method of control or need to be used in conjunction with other methods - for example flushing foxes or deer from woodland onto the guns. The use of firearms as the sole method of control carry the high risk of wounding the target species, causing them prolonged suffering, and in the case of foxes putting young lambs at greater risk. The question of alternatives is considered in our 1995 report and we understand that the inquiry is receiving more detailed evidence on this from other bodies.

14. The NFU's extensive consultation with its membership in 1997 revealed that although there are some farmers do not favour hunting, there is a strong consensus amongst the farming community in support of the retention of hunting. This is not only for the pest control benefit for agriculture, but also because hunting is regarded as an important component of country life, manifesting itself in a variety of different forms in different parts of the country. Hunting also provides farmers with a significant source of valuable diversification opportunities, for example in respect of equestrian activities (livery and grazing contracts etc.).

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15. A central conclusion of the NFU's review of the management of agricultural pests in 1995 was that:

"Farmers consider it imperative that the full range of methods currently available is maintained. We have concluded that any further reduction in the range of techniques available would seriously compromise farmers' ability to control agricultural pests effectively and would jeopardise effective management of farm holdings."

The NFU remains firmly of that view. We believe that a ban on hunting with dogs would be a major retrogressive step in terms of effective pest control, and would have a damaging impact on the supporting services provided to farmers by the hunts, and on the additional sources of income from which farming businesses benefit. We would be glad to expand on these views as the committee of inquiry may require.