I READ the letter in The Sentinel by Ken Hawkins on Friday, June 11 regarding the reinstatement of fox hunting with hounds with a heavy heart.

I live on the border of Stoke-on-Trent and the Staffordshire Moorlands, and I, as did Mr Hawkins, keep hens, although on a much smaller scale.

I have woke up and gone to the birds coup to discover a trail of blooded feathers and a loss of birds.

However, I am the human here. The one who is capable of thought and reason.

The hens are my responsibility and if I do not wish them to fall victim to what is, after all, the fox's natural instinct then it is down to me to protect the birds by making my hen house fox-proof.

It is not rocket science. The fox does not understand the hens are there day in, day out. But it does know if it dispatches the birds they cannot move on and will be left in situ to return and dine on.

I see in the letter one big reason why not to repeal the hunting act but to, in fact, celebrate the majestic creature that is the fox for its tireless work in assisting to rid, by way of its staple diet, what a lot of farmers would call real vermin, which destroys crops, woodland and pasture.

I mean rabbits, moles, rats, mice and squirrels. In fact the fox gets my nomination as mascot for the Young Farmers' Association for services rendered.

On the fox hunt, which 75 per cent of this country do not wish to see reinstated, I too have seen fox hunts. The point that the fox can go to ground in a matter of minutes and be completely safe would be nice if it were true.

A lot of hunts employed men armed with small terriers and a spade whose duties were to flush out foxes by any means, ensuring the 'thrill' of the hunt.

I met a 'terrier man' at a hunt gathering one Boxing Day as I attended a peaceful protest against the then-legal mutilation of foxes.

I was told by the rest of the anti-hunt folk that on previous occasions this man had been most intimidating towards female protesters.

There is no right way to dispatch of another's life in the name of sport and I live in hope one day these people will take off their claret red tinted glasses, discard the idea it is the humans' right to treat other animals with the grace and guts seen on a medieval battlefield and grasp the 21st century.

For those who wish to keep cruelty in the past may I recommend finding out about the League Against Cruel Sports.

B BYRNE

Norton Green