Just a couple of points I'd like to add!

Whilst there is an exemption for hunting rabbits under the Hunting Act it doesn't mean that everyone is free to allow their dog to chase rabbits. Allowing your pet dog to chase rabbits in your local park is an offence unless you have permission from the park owner (usually the local council). It's highly unlikely that you have permission to do so, and its highly likely that some kind of 'animal welfare' group would be very keen to prosecute should they witness the event. Bear in mind that allowing a pet collie to chase rabbits in the park carries the same penalties as taking a pack of lurchers to a herd of deer.

As has been mentioned the only way you can legally hunt rabbits with a dog (any dog) is on land on which you have permission to do so. Bear in mind that the person who needs to give the permission may not neccesarily be the person living on that land!

Also bear in mind that it is not a requirement of the Hunting Act that your permission to control rabbits is in writing.

Lastly, if you are on land controlling rabbits with permission then you are going about your own business in a perfectly legal manner. As such you can demand to be treated as a decent law-abiding citizen. Just because you are out at 3.00am on a wet and blustery night chasing rabbits around a field with a big lamp and a skinny dogs doesn't mean you're not normal!

Crow