AN East Budleigh woman is calling for hunts to abide by the same rules as dog owners.

AN East Budleigh woman is calling for hunts to abide by the same rules as dog owners.

Kathy Moyle, 65, believes local hunts should be forced to abide by new district council rules, which restricts the number of dogs that can be controlled by one person.

Dog owner Mrs Moyle said having one rule for dog owners and another for hunts was 'not fair'.

But joint master of East Devon Hunt, Michael Moore, said the new legislation was unlikely to impact on the club because of the number of people attending the hunt.

He said he believed campaigners were 'clutching at straws', doing all they could to prevent the hunting ban from being repealed.

The district council said the order would not apply if the dog owner has a 'reasonable excuse' - and that, in court, taking a pack of organised hounds in a legal hunt would amount to a reasonable excuse.

Mrs Moyle said: "Normal dog owners have to abide by the laws, so why shouldn't they? It's not fair and it makes me so angry.

"The district council took East Devon Hunt to court a few years ago and the hunt said, in its defence, only the huntsman was in charge of the hounds.

"They cannot claim now that different people are in charge.