I found the letter "Bold attempt to convince", by T Selwood, interesting. It referred to the latest court case about hunting. The only message it conveyed to me was that both sides are claiming victory.

So who has won? The answer is neither. What will happen now is that a lot of pending cases will go to court, so the true winners are the solicitors.

They will be rubbing their hands with glee as they rake in millions of pounds of well-meaning people's money.

I believe an independent assessment is well overdue. To start with, foxes are vermin so, like rats, they need to be controlled; both parties agree on this.

Poison them? This may harm other animals. Trap them? This really is cruel and dangerous.

Shoot them? This is the current practice and, I believe, the method accepted by the animal rights people.The problem is that the fox may die in agony over a long period of time.

Hunt them? As I understand from the hunters, it takes the hounds only seconds to kill the fox, once the catch is made.

My conclusion can be only that the whole thing is a class war.

I leave you with this thought: I wonder how many people who believe hunting should be stopped, simply because it is cruel, keep a sweet little bird in a tiny cage, depriving the poor little creature of a mate and its freedom.

Gary Ballinger Stroud Gloucestershire