Drones may be used to target 'illegal hunting'

It has been illegal to use dogs to hunt animals in England and Wales since 2005

Remote control aircraft could be used by an anti-hunting group to gather evidence of hunts breaking the law.

The League against Cruel Sports will use cameras mounted on the aircraft to monitor any illegal activity that would otherwise be difficult to film on the ground.

A charity spokeswoman said evidence would be collected and passed on to the police.

The Countryside Alliance said the idea was "completely impractical".

 “There are some really quite profound arguments going on about whether a non-governmental organisation should be able to carry out these sort of activities without proper scrutiny”  Tim BonnerCountryside Alliance

A spokeswoman for the league said: "No one owns the upper stratum of airspace so provided the drones fly at a reasonable height so as not to cause a nuisance they will not be trespassing.

"We would only use this equipment if we believed illegal activity was taking place, we wouldn't just go out and monitor anybody."

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21812600

Queen guitarist Brian May criticises badger cull

Queen guitarist Brian May has spoken out against a planned cull of badgers in the West Country.

He was speaking at a meeting of The League Against Cruel Sports in Taunton on Friday evening.

On 12 July a legal bid by The Badger Trust to block a cull in England failed in the High Court.

The cull is likely to begin in Somerset and Gloucestershire later in the year. Mr May called for vaccination of cattle rather than a cull.

The government says that culling will help combat cattle tuberculosis, which costs the UK more than £100m per year.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said TB infection forced the slaughter of 25,000 cattle in 2010 alone.

Defra has said it is investing in developing useable vaccines but these were "years away".

Any cattle vaccine would need to be tested, trialled and approved for use by the European Union.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18938104