Hunting

Of course we had urban foxes before now. Hoards of braying upper class twits on horseback didn't make much of an impression on their numbers. Is this a deliberate attempt to start an argument about hunting mrsmopp?

I don't think its made much difference , they still hunt under the pretense of following a scent , but if the hounds get a whiff of fox then off they go and hunt the poor fox down so what has changed?
I've lived here for 20yrs now and we've always had numerous foxes and the amount that I see killed by the side of the road is huge.

I think, braying upper class twits is a bit wide of the mark. We're talking ten years ago when working class riding and pony clubs were often affiliated to the local hunt.

Jane10, do you see every new thread inviting a discussion as a deliberate attempt to start an argument?
If you don't like the topic, then don't join in!

The topic is hunting and the question you asked was was it a good thing to ban hunting. If you weren't prepared for Jane10s answer, maybe you shouldn't have asked the question.
For what it's worth, I agree with Jane.
Last month's local newspaper contained two pages of photos of huntsmen in the village. They actually parade through the village. Anyone would think they owned it. Come to think of it, they probably do! Onlookers were enabled to admire the scene, the particularly impressive spectacle.
The last sentence was, "There was a small number of hunting protesters!"
Their exclamation mark, not mine.

Hunting animals with dogs is a very emotive subject.

Most farmers feel the need to reduce fox numbers to safeguard their stock; but it disturbs me that people take pleasure in the hunt and the terror and pain they cause to animals.

I have had problems with the hunt round here - they really do think they own the countryside. They once ran through our garden and wrecked it - no apologies. And at one time they used to congregate outside our house at the start of the meet, in spite of us asking them not to, as we did not want to be inadvertently associated with the hunt - they were very rude indeed to me about that. I think the arrogance was the worst thing.

I am sure there are polite people who hunt, but I have yet to meet them.

What really annoys me is those that say the anti-hunting law should be abolished because it's "unenforceable" . It seems there is little will to enforce it.

As to the suggestion that there are now more urban foxes since the hunting ban, I dispute that. We have lived in east London for twenty seven years and there have always been foxes here.

If there are more urban foxes around now than there were in the past, it's probably to do with rubbish being put outside on the street in plastic sacks rather than metal or polypropylene dustbins.

I am horrified by any so-called sport that is dependent upon causing pain to another creature, be it fox-hunting or boxing.

I agree absent. And on the point of boxing, I don't understand how so many people find it enjoyable and acceptable.

I agree. Boxing is also unsupportable as an activity. What is the attraction in hurting others (including animals) for 'sport'?!

At least in boxing both contestants agree to take part, unlike a fox, or hare or deer who had no choice.

Fox hunting is vile, I spent years campaigning to ban this so called sport, I have followed hunts , watched the fox being ripped to pieces , watched the excitement on the faces of the hunters as they watched and roared if the animal screamed , I have seen the terror in the eyes of foxes we managed to save . I have even seen autumn cubbing where the vixen tries to defend her cubs. Anyone in favour of hunting could perhaps explain why , during the foot and mouth outbreak when fox hunting couldn't take place , was there no increase in damage caused by foxes ?

And think of the hounds too, they are only allowed to live approx five to seven years , then shot .

Fox hunting continues because much of our countryside is owned by wealthy land owners who have a finger in every pie . Are police going to arrest magistrates or the high sheriff of the county?

Oh Annie well done. Keep up your efforts. What awful things you have seen. I think it was Oscar Wilde who called hunting "The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable."
Quite true Anya at least the humans have the choice to box. I knew a brave young Dr once who found all the airmen in a regiment unfit to take part in a regimental boxing tournament. He told the CO that no one is fit to be punched about the head to the point of unconsciousness. They were furious naturally but couldn't do anything other than find a Dr with fewer moral scruples.

Here in Leicestershire its hunting country - three major hunts converge here but apart from the New Years Day assembly in the park to receive the Stirrup Cup from the Townwarden it doesn't seem to impinge on daily life. I have been asked if I am for or against and I can honestly say I don't have the information or insight to make a judgement. I was brought up in London urban foxes and other vermin were regarded as a nuisance. When I lived in Wensleydale the farmers shot the foxes to save their sheep and therefore their livelihoods.

Without entering the hunting debate, it seems to me that there is a complete lack of planning or even rationality over wildlife in the UK. Too many deer www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/only-mass-deer-cull-can-prevent-destruction-of-british-woodlands-and-wildife-say-scientists-8523088.html. Foxes are cute, furry vermin and cause a considerable amount of damage to property other animals and occasionally, people. No-one speaks up for rats but bats are protected. Bat dung and urine are as dangerous as rats' and some of them are rabid. Meanwhile badgers are being killed even though protected.

Bit like when they killed off the wolves in America because tourists didn't like deer etc being killed by them in the National Parks, and then had to reintroduce them because the deer then decimated the flora of the areas thereby dying of starvation anyway.

We're not in hunting country around here but having read Annie's post I'm wondering how the foot and mouth ban could have any relevance. The 2001 foot and mouth epidemic ran from February to the end of September so, apart from the first two months, there would have been no foxhunting taking place anyway?

Was a hunting ban still in place in November, 2001 at the start of the next season?

Annie hunting was featured on Countryfile this week, especially focusing on the foxhounds and their breeding. I was wondering aloud why the lack was very obviously composed of fit dogs in their prime and where all the elderly ones were.

If it's the case that they are shot when past their peak, and not pensioned off, then that is as bad as greyhound racing.

Anya, people have tried giving hounds a home , it doesn't work , the dogs have in a way lived wild for seven years , run in packs, eat in packs , if injured then shot, cheaper to replace than pay vets bills , so yes similar to greyhounds , once they have served their purpose discard them .

Merlotgran , the ban was for a year, the official season for fox hunting - official - is November to May . Even three months should have shown an increase in the havoc foxes allegedly create.

One day hunting an animal until it is exhausted is one day too much

Lilygran, badgers are not being culled in Wales, we fought it and won,

There's never been a tradition of hunting here and the farmers shoot foxes when necessary. It's no big deal. I think hunting with hounds is barbaric and cannot see, like some others here, why anyone would want to do it. If you want to ride out in the countryside, fine, and if you want to use dogs, what's wrong with drag hunting (think that's what you call it with a scent for the dogs to follow rather than a live animal)? As for those who say it's a "tradition", so was putting children up chimneys at one time.