'I had death threats in fight for hunting ban'

Ex-MP Mike Foster had little idea a campaign initiated by his constituents to ban hunting with dogs would lead to death threats and panic buttons being installed at his home amid fears for his family.

Now, 20 years after the Hunting Act he spearheaded became law Mr Foster, then Worcester MP, re how all those worries suddenly became "part of the day job".

It had all begun in 1997 when as a new MP he "drew number one" in the ballot for MPs to bring private member's bills to parliament.

Two decades later, their remains tension among the hunting and animals rights fraternities over how the law is applied.

Mr Foster was part of the Labour intake after his party's election landslide in 1997, and he said coming first enabled him to pretty much bring forward whatever legislation he wanted.

However, he decided to leave the subject to the people he served and asked a local paper to organise a poll to ask constituents what their most burning issues were.

The result showed a majority wanting to see hunting with dogs banned - and it came after Labour's manifesto pledge that, if elected, it would allow a free vote on the issue.

The paper counted the responses and the scene was set for the private member's bill to be the tool to deliver that promise, and "my adventure with the issues with hunting with dogs began", Mr Foster said.

"It could have caused me immense difficulty had they voted for something I didn't want to do - but that was the risk I took," he ed.

"But I genuinely, perhaps naively, as a new MP wanted to make sure the views of my constituents were being taken on board."

The act became law on 18 February 2005, making it illegal to use dogs to chase foxes, deer, hares and other wild animals.

There were some exemptions built in, such as trail hunting, which was introduced as a "cruelty-free" replacement.

Trail hunting involves using a rag soaked in animal scent, which is then dragged along to lay a trail for the hunt to follow.

Inevitably though, dogs can encounter a real fox, and the law said that under those circumstances the hunt was meant to call them off.

However, critics say trail hunting has been exploited as a smokescreen by hunts to enable them to continue killing foxes and hares.

"I hoped once the act was ed.. the law abiding community.. would literally obey the law and that would be the end of it," Mr Foster said.

"Unfortunately, that is not what happened."

In the build up to the controversial bill becoming law, he said he and his family were confronted with a stark reality about their safety because of his campaign.

"There was a bombardment of mail - thankfully social media didn't exist in the way it does now, otherwise it would have been totally impossible," he said.

"We went through the gambit of death threats, threats to the family, and my kids were really young at the time.

"When you see something arrive in the post suggesting that your three kids are fed to the dogs, it might have been a nutter, but part of you will go, 'Oh god, is this where we really want to be":[]}