Natural England

Wednesday

Melissa Kite

The real reason for the Dartmoor pony cull

Try as I might, I cannot think of an animal welfare issue that is more misunderstood than the survival of Dartmoor ponies. Every maddening misconception about land management and every un-intended consequence of animal rights sentimentality is encapsulated in the sad reality of why the ponies will be culled in greater numbers than ever from this autumn, because the government has messed up the issue even more than usual. The latest disaster to befall Dartmoor is the conflating of ponies with sheep and cattle by Natural England to produce a total number of grazing animals allowed on Dartmoor.

Wednesday

William Moore

The covert campaign against field sports

If a general election is held, as is rumoured, in November next year, Labour could return to power exactly 20 years after the Hunting Act was passed, and there is the very real possibility of field sports being finished off altogether. Then, the government’s assault on hunting was a long, bloody, open conflict. Today, the campaign against countryside pursuits is more covert – a gradual process of lawfare. Over the past two decades, more and more regulation has crept in. Field sports and the rural economy that surrounds them are suffering. The groups set up to protect rural England often now work against the interests of both gamekeepers and farmers, with the result that the countryside is being drained of the people who understand and can conserve it best.