"Tally Ho" and all that

On April 26th, the Daily Telegraph published an article summarising the findings of researchers from the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science and Purdue University in the USA. The researchers had subjected fish to an uncomfortable experience of heat, while giving half a dose of painkiller and the control group none.

The findings strongly suggest that fish do experience pain. The fish which had the painkiller showed natural behaviour afterwards, suggesting that they had felt no pain, while the control group without painkiller showed memory of the experience by displaying fearful behaviour, - hovering and inactivity. All this two hours later.

Can we expect this government, the champions of protecting creatures from pain, in banning hunting principally because of the pain it afflicts on foxes although ignoring the pain arising from killing in other ways, now to protect fish from anglers?

I suspect not, pain to foxes was never the real reason. It was naked partisan politics! And there are so many anglers, many of them labour supporters!