It is absurd that the Hunting Act prohibits you from encouraging a dog to chase a squirrel. More than that, it is frightening that your dog could be put down and you could be fined £5,000 for saying “Go on Rover, get after it!”.

What is really sinister though, is that if a policeman thought you might want your dog to chase a squirrel in the future, he could raid your home and confiscate evidence.. All this without a warrant from a Magistrate: even a suspected burglar has more rights than a suspected Squirrel-Hunter!

When we realised that the innocent habits of most dog-owners were illegal, it was clear that this should be publicised as much as possible. People should be made aware of the law and how to act within it. And the more people that think the Hunting Act is an ass, the more people will support its repeal.

And poor old Dylan/Dillon (he can’t spell), the Jack Russell! Prevented by law from his most enjoyable method of taking exercise in Hyde Park, we had to create the best substitute for him that we could. So we constituted the Connaught Square Squirrel Hunt on 1 April 2005.

We named the Hunt after Connaught Square because it is the Georgian square in which the Prime Minister has bought his “retirement” townhouse. It seemed only appropriate that he be reminded as often as possible of his worst ever piece of legislation.