LONDON, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- The British government is urging citizens to support its fox hunting ban by signing an online petition.
British Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has launched the petition campaign -- timed to coincide with traditional Boxing Day hunts -- after the Conservative Party vowed to review the ban, The Times of London reported Saturday.
The newspaper said Benn has enlisted celebrities such as Tony Robinson, Patrick Stewart and Jenny Seagrove to add glamour to the campaign, and is claiming one of Tory leader David Cameron's top priorities is overturn the ban, which allows hunters to use dogs to follow a fox's scent, but not to kill it.
"He used to hunt foxes," Benn said of Cameron. "He talked about fox hunting in his first ever speech to Parliament; and he has said that if he becomes prime minister he will get rid of the fox hunting ban."
Britain's Sky News reported that only nine prosecutions of traditional hunts have reached court since 2005, with three convictions.
