ANIMAL CAMPAIGNERS CELEBRATE AS FOX HUNTING VOTE IS SHELVED

Brian May and Animal Protection Groups Vow To Fight Against Future Attempts to Repeal Hunt Ban

London – As the government announced the cancellation of Wednesday's free vote, Queen guitarist, committed animal rights campaigner and PETA's Person of the Year Brian May – along with representatives from May's Save Me Trust, PETA, the RSPCA, the League Against Cruel Sports, Born Free, Lush and Humane Society International – celebrated at a rally outside Westminster and urged policymakers to continue to keep Britain humane by keeping the Hunting Act intact. The groups have pledged to fight any plans for a future vote that would amend the existing rules in England and Wales to increase the number of dogs allowed to flush out wild animals which would, for all intents and purposes, make fox hunting legal again.

Photos from the protest can be found here, here and here.

"This postponement is a victory for campaigners and animals across the country", says PETA Director Mimi Bekhechi. "The Government should now cancel the vote altogether and accept their cruel intentions have been defeated by the people. They must not play games with Britain's animals - we will continue to campaign against any weakening of these laws."

"We are appalled and shocked that the government would try to bring back fox hunting in 2015. It is turning the clock back on cruelty and against the will of 80 per cent of the population", says Save Me Trust CEO Anne Brummer.

Tom Quinn, director of campaigns for the League Against Cruel Sports, says that the groups that came together today – known collectively as Team Fox – represent not only the majority of Britain but also "all the animals who are targeted by hunts, including deer and hares". He says, "Hunters are a minority who like to make animals suffer in the name of 'sport'. They don't represent the countryside. Team Fox is determined to ensure that MPs understand the truth about what hunting really is and vote the way the public want them to vote with no compromise – and keep cruelty history".

The cancelled vote threatened to overturn a ban on hunting with more than two dogs – a decision that would doom countless animals to the terror of long, exhausting chases that typically end only when they've been torn apart. Claims that the vote was to bring England and Wales in line with Scotland are now defunct, given that MSP's are calling on Holyrood to amend Scottish hunting legislation to limit hunting to two dogs.

For more information about fox hunting, visit PETA.org.uk.

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