I DO not know where John Cooper of the League Against Cruel Sports got his poll figures from (Letters, April 17) but it was 59 per cent of the public who were against the ban on hunting with dogs.

The Bill spent many more days going through the two Houses of Parliament than did the decision to send British troops to be killed in Iraq, and subsequently also in Afghanistan - once again showing our softness for animals and indifference to human death.

The general public may believe - as many bodies such as the League Against Cruel Sports would like it to believe - that magically foxes are no longer being killed.

In fact the number of foxes killed since the ban - as Mr Cooper knows full well - has shot up.

This is partly because farmers who once tolerated vermin on their land, because they also supported the local hunts, now see foxes as the pests they have always been, with no redeeming features.

Mr Cooper may be right in saying most West London readers of this paper "abhor fox hunting", but they will also abhor foxes dying of shotgun wounds or gangrene in their earths - because not even a marksman can guarantee a clean kill every time.

At least with hunting (something enjoyed by millions when it only involves watching film of lions chasing kudu in Kenya) the prey either gets away uninjured or is killed outright.

It is ironic that after 12 years of Labour administrations that have wrecked our economy, made us more of a vassal of the EU and created more restrictive and intrusive legislation than any government in this country since Cromwell, Mr Cooper is now calling the Tories "nasty".

If he really believes in democracy and the Tories are elected - perhaps because they are prepared to say now they will repeal the Act - how can he complain if a freely elected party gives the House of Commons a free vote on it?

Cruelty doesn't cease just because it can't be seen.

ACHILVERS West Ealing