Schedule 3 - Hunting with dogs: prohibition
Hunting Bill
11:30 am
Mr Mike O'Brien (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; North Warwickshire, Labour)
My hon. Friend is right in saying that someone may have to give an explanation, but that would not necessarily mean that he had committed a criminal offence and particularly not under the schedule. The purpose of the schedule is clear: to catch those who would commit an offence if they hunted a wild mammal with a dog. If they are not hunting a wild mammal with a dog or facilitating that, they will not be caught by the schedule unless it otherwise prescribes. That is the position set out in the schedule and that is what Parliament has endorsed.
My hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme asked about the specific example in her constituency when someone takes their dog to catch rats in a ditch at the end of a road.