THIS letter is in response to the Regional Directors of the Countryside Alliance's latest attempt to discredit hunt monitors and animal welfare campaigners ('Animal rights groups plan to sabotage legal hunting',Letters, November 11).

Have the Country Alliance and pro-hunt extremists forgotten that 50,000 of them signed a declaration and openly pledged to break the law?

What are we to do, stand back and let them continue to kill our wildlife in the name of the pest control?

Animal welfare campaigners have worked for 80 years to get hunting banned so, yes, we will continue to monitor hunt activities.

We have no intention of sabotaging hunts and are not there to do so.

Anti-hunt campaigners have stated for many years hunts should go drag hunting and are glad to see some hunts working to do this.

Sadly this is not the case for all of them. In a report released last week by the League Against Cruel Sports, 40 per cent of hunts were stated to be flouting the law and this is just their figure.

Hunt Watch have also had a large number of reports of hunts doing this, as have the Hunt Saboteurs Association.

Since the hunting ban was announced in November 2004, Hunt Watch and other organisations have had a large number of reports from their monitors of an increase of intimidation, threats and violence from pro-hunt thugs.

Hunts are not there to provide a service to farmers regarding pest control; they are there for the thrill of the chase. This is why over 50 hunts have adopted to hunting with a bird of prey.

Contrary to what the Alliance allege hunt monitors are not wasting police time but only reporting what we believe to be breaches of the Hunting Act. Until we are fully satisfied that the hunting community are abiding with the law we shall continue to monitor hunt activities.

To know more about Hunt Watch and their work please see www.huntwatch.info

ANDREA HILL

Hunt Watch

PO Box 3089

Norwich

Norfolk