So the Master of Fox Hounds Association is urging hunts to carry on with the breeding of hounds for quarry hunting.

The MFHA is irresponsibly advising hunts to carry on breeding hounds as normal, for their aggression, viciousness, and stamina rather than breeding hounds more suitable for drag or trail hunting.

One minute the hunters are claiming they will have to put down their hounds, and the next they are breeding more hounds for a bloodsport that has mercifully been outlawed.

This can only be interpreted as sending out the message that some hunters are intending to hunt illegally. This is reprehensible advice from a body that ought to be guiding its members towards the realities of legal activity. The MFHA is in denial if it thinks that the hunting ban will be overturned.

L WARD

Chippenham