MPs and wildlife activists demand ban on lamping
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Leading wildlife supporters and MPs have called for a review of the law in the wake of the Independent on Sunday's revelations that lamping, the practice of shooting at night with the aid of bright lights, had led to the deaths of a boy and large numbers of protected animals.
Bill Oddie, ornithologist and presenter of natural history programmes, said: "This is a hooligan activity and quite clearly dangerous from every point of view ... It simply should not be legal."
Last week the IoS reported that, although some lampers are farmers and landowners who do it for pest control, others are going into the countryside at night and killing large numbers of animals for "sport".
Our report also described three incidents in which people had been either killed or seriously injured by lampers.
Some MPs believe changes in the law are necessary. Lembit Opik, Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire and co-chairman of the Middle Way Group - whose proposals for a statutory hunting authority aim to balance animal welfare with individual freedom - said: "There's no point banning one method of control while leaving other methods legal that can cause as much - or more - suffering."
Tony Banks MP, a supporter of a hunting ban, said: "Gun laws must be greatly tightened, and penalties substantially increased."
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