Animal & Farming

In May three members of the Crawley and Horsham Hunt were convicted of illegal hunting – the first such convictions in the county. Andrew Phillis, Neill Millard and Rachel Holdsworth were convicted of hunting foxes with dogs on two occasions in January last year, during which they were videoed by hunt monitors. The video footage was seen during the trial. All three were fined – between £500 and £1,000 – and ordered to pay costs. Charges against a fourth accused, a joint master of the hunt, were dropped during the trial.

The accused had denied they were chasing foxes, claiming they were trail hunting, but had denied the charges, saying they were out trail hunting ? following an artificially laid scent - and did not plan to hunt or kill any foxes. However, Crown Prosecutor Mark Bishop said: "The defendants claimed that the foxes seen on film being chased by the hunt's hounds were not being hunted intentionally and that the hounds were following an artificial scent.

The four nations in the UK are to be given greater power to manage their own fishing quotas, following an agreement reached by Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon (pictured) and the devolved governments.

Under the agreement, the UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments, and the Northern Ireland Executive will each be allocated annually-agreed shares of UK-wide fish quotas for distribution to their own fleets. They will be based on the number of boats in each area and the quota they already receive. However, fishing vessels will be free to move their operations to other parts of the UK.

A European Union Directive on the care and housing of animals used in scientific experiments must be passed into UK law by 1 January next year. Although the new regulations apply new welfare standards across the EU, many of the standards are below what is already in place in the UK, according to the RSPCA, which is concerned that an option to retain more stringent standards may not be taken up in its entirety.

On 27 March Parliament debated the Government’s proposals for passing the new directive into UK law, prompting the RSPCA to issue a statement.

The number of confirmed cases of Schmallenberg Virus (SBV) continues to grow in Europe and the UK.

By the end of last week there, 2,622 cases had been confirmed across eight member states, according to the Flutrackers website.

Germany is the worst affected, with 1, 061 cases, followed by France (894), Belgium (255), the UK (209) and the Netherlands (194), with Luxembourg, Italy and Spain recording nine cases between them.