ANY of your readers hoping for a respite in the hunting debate may well be disappointed.

That champion of rural causes, the Countryside Alliance, has miraculously re-emerged now that hunting with hounds is once more under threat.

To gain support for its "Summer of Discontent" rallies the CA has already begun a propaganda campaign. This, no doubt, will include a steady flow of letters to local papers throughout the country, from hunt supporters desperate to win the "hearts and minds" of the public.

Before joining such rallies, however, people should think very seriously on the behaviour of the hunting associations.

As I understand it, they denied using artificial earths to encourage foxes, until confronted with the evidence, and they failed to take action over gratuitous acts of cruelty.

I also understand they have deliberately frightened shooting and fishing enthusiasts into believing their sports are next on the hit list without any evidence to support such a claim. They were forced to halve their estimate for job losses, if hunting were banned, following the Burns Report.

The CA is planning another huge London rally to force a government climb down on the Hunting Bill.

However, the majority of this nation voted for a total ban on hunting with hounds and that is what we should have done!

PETER DAVIES,

Lancaster Close,

Hungerford, Berks.

PRO cruel sports letters (Wiltshire Times, April 18) were subjective because the evidence against them is indisputable; that is why the decision to make such pastimes illegal along with other cruelties, sadly will not stop illegal cruelty.

The perpetuated image of country life is one based more on philosophical dogma than lived reality: the farmer worried about his hens or lambs calls out the nice hunting people to attack nasty Mr Fox, or is worried about his cattle getting bovine TB so kills badgers. This is light years from the reality.

The biggest threat to farm animals is human cruelty or neglect, intensive farming, overuse of antibiotics, ie lack of good husbandry practices. Yet former chairman of the Countryside Alliance, MP Ian Liddell-Granger and the NFU are calling for badger extermination in the West Country, both organisations being apologists for the cruel sports lobby and intensive farming respectively, badger, fox, magpie and other wildlife being innocent victims of both, making convenient scapegoats.

The government's Independent Scientific Group accepts that cattle to cattle transmission of TB is underestimated and warned the government in December 2001, yet restrictions on movements did not come in until late this January.

Also ignored is badgers catching TB from cattle. Badgers have been blamed since 1971.

Jonathan Seed did not deny the hunt do not bring in or encourage foxes and that no farmer resigned, he just quotes hunt rules which, even if adhered to, does nothing for the welfare of hounds, terriers, horses, pets, farm animals or wildlife, and never any mention of terrier work, cub hunting and those digging for badgers.

DAVID THOMAS,

Hisomley,

Westbury.