Hunting with dogs (1 Viewer)

[peter hayes]

The streets of London have again been filled with people in tweed jackets and Barbours blowing whistles, holding banners and shouting abuse at all and sundry. Yes, Parliament is debating hunting again. I have lost count of the number of votes we have had on this, but today really is the beginning of the end. The difference this time is that it is a Government Bill and they will give this time to get through. And if their Lordships block it again they'll use the Parliament Act to force it onto the statute book.

As I looked at the long line of protestors marching through Westminster this afternoon (mostly Tory, it has to be said) I wondered if there can ever be a compromise on this emotive issue. I followed stag hunts on Exmoor and the Quantocks for years (as part of my job) and there is no doubt it is a spectacle. Or that it is a mainstay of many local economies and the main reason for getting together socially (hunt balls, fundraising events etc). All these factors are cited by followers, plus of course the reason they say in hunting is necessary in the first place: that their quarry - whether deer or foxes - are vermin and a nuisance. They argue that they have to be put down because they destroy crops and cause damage. They also say that by pursuing only the weak and the deformed etc they are helping the stock to become stronger and healthier.

The country types who support hunting will never understand the MPs (mostly Labour) who simply find the whole business disgusting. For these MPs it is a simple matter of cruelty. They think hunting is a vile, barbaric 'sport' and should be eliminated. And they don't go for this Bill, which allows for a licencing system. How can you licence cruelty, they say? They therefore plan to amend the Bill (and won't be stopped by the Whips) to impose an outright ban on all hunting with dogs, as Michael Foster tried with his Private Members Bill back in 1997.

What's the view among members of the Bird Forum, many of whom live in the country and can perhaps see the need for controlling numbers of wild animals, but may blanche at the idea of a stag or a fox being ripped apart by hounds?

 

[PaulMunro]

A very emotive subject I think we would all agree.
Here's my tuppence worth, which I am sure many will disagree with, so I will don my tin hat ...........

My opinion, for what it is worth is to let the hunters be, this is not because I agree with it, far from it, so let me explain.....

Having relations who live in Fox Hunting Country, and having exposure to the 'hunting set' I think that Fox hunting is basically being used as a convenient emotive issue for the countryside alliance to attract attention to their other agendas (some a lot more sinister and potentially destructive than fox hunting) which do not get the same column inches in our totally 'free partisan' press.

It saddens me that the hunting debate dominates the media and press, and pushed other, more serious issues for Birders and Wildlife enthusiasts, such as Badger Baiting and other cruel and illegal countryside practices out of the public eye. Notice how many dead Badgers are apearing at the side of our roads with very little trace of 'road kill' about them, no prizes for guessing that they have been baited, and those doing it are nasty pieces of work. I can tell you from first hand experience, if you come across some of these 'chaps' when out birding, they will do you a lot more damage than a fox hunter will.

Talking to people in the area, a lot are saying that in 10 -20 years the hunts will be dying out anyway, young people are not as keen as their parents to be seen at some events, and it's a bit like our hobby these days, you don't see too many teenagers taking it up, so memberships are getting older and older, don't believe the spin, the hunt is dying on its feet..........and they know it, hence the pathetic media hype.

Why fight when it seems to be dying anyway, we are just playing into the hands of those with many other agenda's.
There is a lot more cruelty going on in the countryside, it's a pity that it has been sidelined somewhat.



PM (Bunkered down at an Airport near you)

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[IanF]

For my pennies worth, I find Fox-hunting distasteful. I used to live in the country and have followed the hunt on several occasions. It's all good fun having a chase across the countryside following the hounds, but seeing a frightened cornered fox being ripped apart is quite disgusting. I think it is barbaric. If foxes become such a nuisance in an area then why not just trap or shoot them as other vermin would be dealt with ?

On the other hand once Fox-hunting has been banned, where does the attention turn. The next easiest target are the coarse and game fishermen (me included). I've already heard mumblings about the pain and distress caused to the fish !

 

[monkeyman]

Aah! The unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable

That wonderful summation of the English country gentleman galloping after a fox! (By an Irishman!)

There is absolutely no substance in the arguments that to ban hunting with dogs will be the ruination of the countryside and their attendant "businesses".

Any hunting that is done for sport is cruel. Whether it is fishing, stag or fox hunting, or falconry, or badger baiting, or hare coursing, or cock and dog fighting. Most of which, though illegal, still go on today; and not just as "country" pursuits!

In the seventies, I did my bit for the Hunt Sabs. I witnessed first hand the state that horses and dogs got into being forced over barbed wire and through bramble thicket. If any "townie" treated their "pet" the way they did, they'd be hauled up before the beak by the RSPCA in no time at all! I've never seen so many bleeding animals in one day!

What tends to be lost sight of here is that most rural "sports" emanated from a need to hunt for food. However, man has a need for sport and ritual. But that does not necessarily mean that someone or some animal has to suffer!

If the Countryside Alliance want to preserve those jobs they are afraid of losing, why not set up drag hunts? After all, they'll be doing exactly the same thing, but without the bloody and needlessly cruel end!

And by the way, I have lived most of my life in rural communities (including Quorn and Cottesmore Hunt country) and am not vegetarian!


B B

 

[T0ny]

May I suggest that the word 'hunting' in any of the pieces written by supporters of both sides of this debate be replaced by, let us say, 'murder' or 'rape ' or 'genocide' or 'torture' - and see how many still support the activity. There is no excuse for this barbaric activity - social, economic, historical, sporting, they are all red herrings, dragged out to divert attention away from the fact that those who support hunting in any guise are merely those who wish to torture and maim harmless creatures. They are probably insecure, mean-minded and impotent - the only hunting that should be done is of them by their own hounds.

Tony