Stag hunters are leading the way
WHILE I agree with Aideen Yourell (Letters, October 16) that any unnecessary distress caused to deer for "sport" is indefensible, I can't help thinking how low stag hunting has been brought by the ban.
Instead of terrorising the deer, the hunters can only bring the animals for a walk or a trot in the countryside and then get the hounds to pursue the scent trail. That is drag hunting in all but name, the difference being that a live deer is creating the scent.
I wonder if fox hunters could be persuaded to follow the example of their fellow sportspeople in the Ward Union.
Fox hunters may scoff at this proposition, but it would make their pursuit more humane and therefore more acceptable to fair-minded people everywhere.
The Wards may have set a trend!
John Fitzgerald
Callan, Co Kilkenny
Irish Independent
