Luke Beasley (Letters, May 16) describes foxes as "innocent". This is obviously nonsense. No animal is either innocent or guilty. They are instinctive.

When a sparrow is killed by a cat, the sparrow is no more innocent than the cat is guilty.

Thus the idea upon which "animal rights" is predicated is fallacious. After all, to have rights also implies responsibilities and, as far as I know, no animal has signed up to accept such an arrangement.

For the enlightenment of Luke, foxes are classified as vermin, as are rats, for example. They need to be culled (kept in check) and, according to the Burns report into the most humane method of doing this, hunting with dogs was found to be second least cruel, after "lamping" (shooting foxes at night by rifle, first attracting the creatures to their death with bright lights).

This method is not very practical though.

Sadly, it is reported that most Labour MP's who voted to ban foxhunting did not bother to read the report.

This is because they are not really interested in cruelty but in attacking the countryside and, as they see it, the upper classes. A disgrace, if you think about it.

Whatever happens, foxes are in no danger of becoming extinct. There are already far too many in Littlehampton.

-J Jackson, Highdown Drive, Littlehampton