EXCLUSIVE My 48 beautiful bloodhounds have never hurt a fly. But I dread their fate if Starmer's class warriors ban all hunting with dogs, says IVAN MASSOW By Ivan Massow Published: 02:02 BST, 9 June 2024 | Updated: 08:50 BST, 9 June 2024 e-mail 55 View comments My dogs – all 48 of them – are a huge part of my life. My heart breaks when I lose one of them.
Every animal lover will understand the pain of that. But if Labour gain power next month, I fear that many will have to be destroyed, and with them the most joyous part of my life. I do not trust that, armed with a large majority in the Commons and drunk on a metropolitan self-righteousness, they will not follow through on the threat made earlier this year to ban hunting with dogs, effectively taking a bolt gun to a much-loved country pursuit about which they are clueless.
On Friday, Labour Shadow Environment Secretary Steve Reed pledged to end trail hunting, the practice of dogs following the scent of an animal's urine on a rag that a person trails through the countryside. This is not foxhunting in any shape or form. About drag hunting – which uses an artificial scent, like aniseed, and follows a pre-determined route – Reed has kept quiet.
Ivan Massow is the hunting master of the Coakham pack in Kent and East Sussex and is responsible for 48 bloodhounds As a huntsman, Ivan's job is to ride close to the hounds, communicating with them constantly and calling them off if they look like making a wrong turn This has not.
