Letter: Repealing fox hunting ban would be wrong
Tuesday 8th November 2011, 8:53AM GMT.
I note the Countryside Alliance is trying to get the law against fox hunting reversed, reasoning that it is a difficult law to maintain as there have been few prosecutions.
So are we to understand that any law that proves difficult to maintain is simply remedied by making it legal?
Let’s face it, the tally ho set ride rough shod over this law and through the simple act of releasing hounds they are creating an opportunity for law breaking.
We can’t change laws just because it doesn’t suit a minority of the population.
Rod Shaw
Shrewsbury
Thanks for all your comments on this letter – the debate is now closed.
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Hunting foxes in such a cruel manner is terrible, we should never go backwards and allow it again. If fox hunters ignore this ban then they should be punished.
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Well ED that’s quite an assumption to make and one into which many anti-bloodsports extremists fall. Hunting with dogs is in no way whatsoever a cruel activity and is indeed nessecary to ensure the survival of a healthy fox population.
Let me explain, Prior to mans use of dogs to control predators and also to hunt for food the fox was predated upon by wolves and other animals, the weaker foxes fell victim to the predators and the healthy survived the chase, that’s exactly what happened following the use of hounds by man to control fox numbers from many years ago until the time the hunting act became law. We now see a mangy sick population of foxes as poorly conditioned animals breed with healthy ones and weaken the gene pool, with the resultant spread in urban foxes too ill to hunt seeking easy pickings from scrap food and family pets, and in some well documented cases even attacking small children.
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David,, do you believe in father christmas and the tooth fairy as well? your remarks are total utter exagerated nonsense and you know it but carry on spouting this tripe. its not going to be repealed so the foxhunters will have to carry on illegally until the resources are there to stop it. and No i dont live in the town before you respond with that usual country ways drivel.
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If the ban’s ever repealed they may as well go the whole hog and bring back gladiatorial combat, pitting violent criminals against each other in the arena. It would serve as a form of pest control, was once a tradition enjoyed by the masses and I’m sure there are many who would enjoy the spectacle, so what could be wrong with it?
Oh, that’s right; it’s barbaric, unnecessary, inhumane and in these more enlightened times we’ve become increasingly sophisticated and moved beyond it.
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We have indeed moved beyond gladitorial combat but why you would choose to draw a comparison between this and fox hunting is really beyond me, the hunting of foxes with dogs is an efficient manner of fox control and removes the weaker foxes from the landscape, leading to a healthier fox population, read my response to Ed above or Lizzie’s rsponse to eva land, post 7.
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Personally i believe that fox hunters are no more than countryside rapists and treated as such. This is a vile act carried out against a defenceless creature.
Lets not forget that the fox was once wiped out in this country due to hunting. however once there were no more to be chased and killed, our good lords and gentry got bored and re-introduced it to the British countryside.
It’s well known that all British foxes have French blood running through their veins and unfortunately, through our river systems, when they are brutally ripped apart in the name of fun!!!! (sorry “pest control”)
Arguments for bringing back the hunt will, and forever be based on lies and subterfuge.
The peasants have revolted, the gentry are just revolting.
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So you’re saying the real purpose of fox hunting is to leave stronger, healthier predators, which are better at killing livestock?
Interesting concept.
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What is it in ‘Man’s’ psyche that everything in nature at one time becomes a threat or a problem? What is this urge to destroy? We are quickly painting ourselves into a corner labelled ‘extinction’ through an intate ignorance.
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Yeah but I don’t like the way that fox is looking at me. Look into it’s eyes….it’s definitely planning something. I’ve seen it a few times now in the Shropshire Star…always the same Machiavellian countenance. Why isn’t it wearing a little red jacket and a monocle ? Brrrrrr, gives me the creeps it does.
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Another over the top letter banging on about such things that do not take place anymore .
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But the countryside Alliance are trying to get the law on hunting reversed.
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This is indeed true and quite rightly so, such is the feelng over this unjust piece of legislation that we have seen the biggest ever protest in London on this matter prior to the acts coming into law, i just wish the Conservatives would hurry up and give us a referendum on hunting so as the law can be overturned, which i asm sure it will be in the fullnest of time.
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They won’t – any talk of a referendum was a sop and the law won’t be overturned – ever.
I’ve said it before, there are bigger menaces in the countryside than foxes.
Please huntsmen, do something useful, won’t you at least think of hunting potato beetles (with or without dogs)!
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Another reply from the fraternity that refuses to admit they still use dogs to kill dogs. If in doubt just search some of the imagery on You Tube which clearly shows these backward law breakers slaying wild animals with a pack of hounds. More worryingly is their foul language and violent behaviour toward anyone that gets in their way.
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I think you will find the letter writer is saying that there are breaches in the law regarding this Andrew so try reading it before posting.
He also quite rightly goes on to say that repealing the legislation is not the obvious way to go as the Counryside Alliance are claiming.
Whilst we have a Tory Government they are bound to try and get their own way despite the true situation being that it is not supported by the majority of the electorate nor is it a necessary sport claiming to keep fox populations down.
The majority of foxes live in urban areas where they do a great job killing rats and have never become a problem like rabbits for example, as disease keeps their numbers constant. Someone tried to claim killing the weaker, diseased foxes was a service to the community.This is too silly for words, they are rejected by the pack and without the support of other foxes do not survive much longer.
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Er, foxes don’t live in packs, Eva. You’re thinking of wolves, maybe.
As to the original letter: if the Hunting Act was going to work it would have done so by now. The number of people nationally who want to see taxpayers’ money diverted into more aggressive enforcement of the Act is about ten (although they all write lots of letters to newspapers). As long as this law exists, anti-hunting activists will keep pestering the police every time they see more than two foxhounds in one place, and dealing with their spurious complaints costs taxpayers’ money as well.
The Hunting Act, like so much of the Blair/Brown legacy to the nation, is a politicians’ pointless vanity project, a luxury that this country cannot afford.The vast, overwhelming majority of people do not give a stuff about hunting one way or the other, and of those who do give a stuff, the people who actively take part in hunting outnumber those who are actively trying to stop it by about a hundred to one.
We’re all minorities, every single one of us, in one way or another. And the laws of this country take account of the views of minorities and always have done. I happen to think that is a good thing.
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The shame of taking part in such a cruel sport should stop these people doing it.
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It really isn’t a cruel sport and ensures a healthy fox population, why do people constantly refer to fox hunting as cruel, this really is an outmoded response that has been proven time and time again to be far from the case.
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So you don’t chase the animal through the countryside and kill it then?
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Er, foxes do live in packs, Richard or what is more often called social groups but they do not hunt for food in packs as do wolves.
If a fox has been rejected and is not part of a group, usually because of the mange then they tend to become panicky and may be the ones to go on a killing spree before their own demise which will often be hastened by a local dog.
It is true that foxes were imported from abroad for the hunting season when the sport became a popular pastime.
It is reckoned that road deaths account for the majority of fox losses, after the mange.
You contradict yourself saying that the pro fox hunting fraternity are a MINORITY group in one breath but then go on to say they vastly out number those who oppose this cruel and pointless sport in the next!
There are minorities and minorities but if a hobby involves cruelty or threatens the welfare of animals then it would be a backward step for us to go back to this uncivilised behaviour.
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But the Burns report showed that the studies done on hunting foxes with hounds was one of the least cruel methods of fox control, it recommended that the middle way of licencing fox hunting with hounds. This was to ensure that animal welfare was taken into account.
This has left foxes being controlled by alternate methods that are more damaging to the fox population and more cruel.
So to paraphrase you we should take a forward step, away from the uncivilised behaviour, and allow the hunts to control foxes fox numbers in the more civilised way by using hounds !
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Fox hunting makes us Brits look as cruel as the Spainish with their bullfighting. You have to be a bit twisted to want to do such a thing.
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Or you would have to want to care for the environment, see a balanced ecosystem and ensure a healthy fox population through hunting with dogs, i could go on but i’m sure you get the picture.
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Mother nature will take care of itself, you don’t have to do it for her.
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“We can’t change laws just because it doesn’t suit a minority of the population.”
But we do just that dont we, if it happens to be the right minority.
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Ken, i think you will find that the majority of people in the UK from all social groups and backgrounds are in favour of seeing this dispicable piece of legislation overturned, we are not talking of a minority here and it really is a case of overturning an unjust and undemocratic piece of legislation.
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I am not particularly involved, I sort of see something that does not ring true and react to that.
I would say I feel the same sort of bells ringing when I read the CA claiming the legalisation should be scrapped because few have been prosecuted, that is a weak argument. It either means the police are not enforcing the law or Hunts are obeying the law. It is not up to the police to decide if they will enforce a particular law or not, although they often do in other areas.
Personally I have not seen the local hunt out at all since this law was passed, I don’t know if it has been abandoned or if they no longer hunt this area. Perhaps because of the many foxes about here they have decided to avoid the area in order to keep within the law whilst also enjoying their sport.
Whether the law is unjust can only be ascertained if compared to other minority variances, for instance halal slaughter. In that case I would – on the little knowledge I have of both hunting and halal slaughter – say it was.
Unfortunately I would have to say that as far as anything can be said to be democratic these days this law must be, as it was passed by parliament and can be repealed by the same method. I think I remember a certain D Cameron standing for election on a promise to repeal this act, but we all know how much faith we can place in his promises, cast iron or not.
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“i think you will find that the majority of people in the UK from all social groups and backgrounds are in favour of seeing this dispicable piece of legislation overturned”
Is that a fact? If you’re going to assert it then you won’t have any problem replying with links to your (unbiased) sources.
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David , your either a wind up merchant or sadly you really believe what your typing. if your a wind up merchant your getting bites if not i believe a village somehwere is missing its idiot!
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Most people really don’t want it back.
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David – what exactly is a healthy fox population that you keep harping on about & do you really think chasing 1 fox at a time is going to have any sort of impact on the ‘ecosystem’. This population control rubbish is perpetually rolled out by pro hunters, desperate to justify the unjustifiable. Why are you not hunting rats or grey squirrels if you are that concerned about controlling populations. Nature controls its own numbers, more foxes means less food – which will lead to less foxes! Pro hunters should have the courage to come our & say that “we just like killing foxes” and spare us this tripe!
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Lizzie and David the massive flaw in your argument is that foxes do not need managing.
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Anyone noticed David likes the sound of his own voice? You’ll never change the fact that most people know fox hunting is cruel and the killing of animals is not a sport, it’s sick. One minute pro hunters claim they never kill anyway, then they say they are keeping fox numbers down. They’ll say anything to excuse the fact they get a kick out of chasing and killing an animal.
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Judging by the comments from the last article on fox hunting, I think most Shropshire star readers are well against a return to hunting with dogs. The countryside alliance should drop it, we should never go backwards and allow this cruelty again. I’m sick of hearing it’s not cruel, chasing a fox about the countryside can’t be fun for the fox. Watching it killed by dogs is just sick.
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i am glad the hunting ban has cleaned up the sport of hunting. the sport is now more popular than ever. the meets are well attended. with the country fast becoming a greece, italy , portugal and ireland the last thing we need now is wasting parliaments time with further tinkering with the hunting bill.
indeed i suspect the coalition may have to become larger to try and save britains economy. a national government beckons
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