Editing Hunting Act 2004 (section)

===Background===
{{see also|Legislation on hunting with dogs}}
Several UK laws on animal welfare, such as the [[Protection of Animals Act 1911]], the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 and the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 contained specific exemptions for hunting activities, thereby preventing prosecutions of other hunts activities that might otherwise have been considered cruel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/51/crossheading/exceptions-and-licences|title=Protection of Badgers Act 1992|website=www.legislation.gov.uk|access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref><ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/3/section/2 The National Archives: "Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996: Section 2: Exceptions from offence under the Act.]"</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/homeaffairs/page/0,,650062,00.html|title=Timeline: attempts to ban hunting - Special Reports - guardian.co.uk Politics|website=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nwt.org.uk/node/2999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926065711/http://www.nwt.org.uk/node/2999|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 September 2015|title=Wild Mammals and the Law - Northumberland Wildlife Trust|website=www.nwt.org.uk|access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref>

Many earlier attempts had been made to ban hunting. Two [[private member's bill]]s to ban, or restrict, hunting were introduced in 1949, but one was withdrawn and the other defeated on its [[second reading]] in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]].<ref name="Tichelar">{{cite journal |url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=502052# |last=Tichelar |first=M. |year=2006 |title='Putting Animals into Politics: The Labour Party and Hunting in the First Half of the Twentieth Century |journal=Rural History |volume=17 |pages=213–234 |doi=10.1017/S0956793306001889 |issue=2|s2cid=145439733 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The Labour government appointed a Select Committee on Cruelty to Wild Animals, chaired by John Scott-Henderson [[King's Counsel|KC]], to  investigate all forms of hunting, and it published a report in 1951.<ref>{{Cite book |first=J. Scott |last=Henderson|year=1951|title=Report of the Committee on Cruelty to Wild Animals}}</ref>  Opponents of hunting claimed that the membership of the committee had been chosen to produce a pro-hunting report.<ref name="Tichelar"/> The inquiry reported its view that "[[Fox hunting]] makes a very important contribution to the control of foxes and involves less cruelty than most other methods of controlling them. It should therefore be allowed to continue."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1846577.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=17 February 2005|access-date=19 February 2008|title=Timeline: Hunting row}}</ref> The select committee was unanimous in recommending no action on hunting, but it made proposals on the use of [[trapping#Foothold traps|spring traps]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Henry |last=Tegner |title=Wild Hares |location=London |publisher=John Baker |date=1969 |page=83}}</ref>

Twice, in 1969 and in 1975, the House of Commons voted in favour of bills to ban [[hare coursing]], but neither bill became law. Three further private member's bills were introduced by [[Kevin McNamara (politician)|Kevin McNamara]] in 1992 (Wild Mammals (Protection) Bill), by [[Tony Banks, Baron Stratford|Tony Banks]] in 1993 (Fox Hunting (Abolition) Bill), and by [[John McFall, Baron McFall of Alcluith|John McFall]] in 1995 (Wild Mammals (Protection) Bill)—all of which failed to go on to become law.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.justice.org.uk/images/pdfs/JamieFletcher.ExecutiveSovereigntyinourConstitution.pdf |last=Fletcher |first=J. |title=Executive Sovereignty in our Constitution |publisher=Justice |access-date=19 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228182044/http://www.justice.org.uk/images/pdfs/JamieFletcher.ExecutiveSovereigntyinourConstitution.pdf |archive-date=28 February 2008}}</ref>

The [[Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002]] made it unlawful to chase or deliberately kill mammals with dogs in 2002. There are a number of differences between the two Acts: The Scottish Act does not place a two dog limit on the flushing of a mammal to guns in order to shoot it; with respect to flushing foxes above ground to guns to shoot them, only the Scottish Act permits this to be done to protect game birds; with respect to flushing foxes below ground to guns to shoot them, only the Scottish Act permits this to be done to protect livestock. The Scottish Act allows someone convicted to be sentenced for up to six months in prison, there is no such power in the Hunting Act 2004.<ref name="Scottish Act"/>

At the time of this bill fox hunting with hounds was "not practised or is largely banned" in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Spain and Sweden,<ref name="burns">{{cite web|date=9 June 2000 |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |author1=Lord Burns |author2=Edwards, Victoria |author3=Marsh, John |author4=Lord Soulsby of Swaffham Prior |author5=Winter, Michael |title=The Final Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs in England and Wales |url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/hunting/inquiry/mainsections/huntingreport.htm |access-date=10 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410213249/http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/hunting/inquiry/mainsections/huntingreport.htm |archive-date=10 April 2009}}</ref> but was allowed in Australia, Canada, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Russia and the USA.<ref name="BBC1">{{cite news|publisher=BBC News|title=Fox hunting worldwide|date=16 September 1999|access-date=2007-10-05|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/428122.stm}}</ref>