I CAN’T help but think that the animal rights lobby makes far too big a fuss about fox hunting. I mean, it is really that big an issue? Does fox hunting have a significant impact on the fox population of our countryside?

Actually it probably does – a positive impact. Why? Because, if they are well disposed towards hunting, farmers and other landed interests are more likely to leave undisturbed those patches of wilderness and semiwilderness that are the foxes’ preferred habitat.

The fox always has a sporting chance – which is more than can be said for the millions of victims (chickens, pigs and veal calves) of factory farming.

That’s where animal rights activists should be focusing their campaigning – on factory farming – not on something as basically harmless, picturesque and traditional as fox hunting.

Tony Kelly, Crook