Fox hunting?

[Kernewek Den]

I live in a rural Cornwall and can appreciate the pro hunting campaign but I'm still undecided.

If they hunted the cats that s**t in my garden I'd definitely be on their side :!: :evil:

 

[neiltwist]

the words 'worms' 'can' and 'of' spring to mind

 

[Kernewek Den]

Maybe so - but is it right that the townies can dictate country life?

 

[Naomi McFadyen]

I dont have too much of an opinion on Fox Hunting other than knowing I'm against it...

 

[Di]

I'm absolutely against it. If it were simply a case of they are a pest, then there are other ways of controlling them. But if its just for the sheer pleasure of watching a lone, terrified, most likely innocent, country animal being chased by a pack of drooling hounds and once exhausted, being torn apart alive by dogs, its gotta be just barbaric. :x Foxes have just as much a right to their country life as any other animal or bird. Why pick on them. :cry: :?: If folk are bored down in the west country, get an instrument out and join a band, its much more fun!

My opinion. Not meant to cause offence.

 

[rutty]

If they hunted the cats that s**t in my garden I'd definitely be on their side :!: :evil:

At last - someone who agrees with me!

http://davidrutt.co.uk/archives/000015.php

I voted for "leave it to those involved" - foxes are a nuisance to farmers. If they weren't so cute looking I doubt that anyone would give a stuff about them. It's barbaric to a lot of people, normal practise to some. I don't think that "Townies" should impress their beliefs on people that live in the country, and vice versa.

That can of worms is definately open!

 

[Accidental]

I'm absolutely against it. If it were simply a case of they are a pest, then there are other ways of controlling them. But if its just for the sheer pleasure of watching a lone, terrified, most likely innocent, country animal being chased by a pack of drooling hounds and once exhausted, being torn apart alive by dogs, its gotta be just barbaric. :x Foxes have just as much a right to their country life as any other animal or bird. Why pick on them. :cry: :?: If folk are bored down in the west country, get an instrument out and join a band, its much more fun!

My opinion. Not meant to cause offence.

What she said!!!
Dinie, thank you for saying what I wanted to so much better than I could have done.... and being brave enough to go first!

 

[BigHorn]

The red fox is a resident of of all of europe and parts of Asia. On mainland europe they are known to spread disease such as rabies and distemper. However they are not regarded as much of a pest at all and people do not feel the need to chase them to exhaustion and let their dogs rip them to pieces.
If an animal is a pest then fair enough it should be controlled but we all know that this is just about blood lust and enjoyment of the hunt.
The government agents who took part in the recent Badger culling experiment didn't use such inefficient and barbaric methods they gassed, shot or poisoned them. Not much of a sport that though is it. Getting dressed in your hunting Pinks, having your sherry before the off and then just leaving a piece of poisened meat outside a hole.
Also if the vermin control argument was valid why dont you ever see Prince Charles and his cronies crawling through the sewers hunting rats which are a far greater problem.

 

[neiltwist]

oh dear, I wonder who's actually been on a hunt here?

eh?

I've certainly not, and never want to, but if you think that what happens is that the dogs 'rip apart' the fox, then as far as I'm aware (please note this, I may be horribly wrong), you are sadly mistaken. I'm not saying that I condone Fox hunting, but the truth of the matter is that it is a way of life to some people, and a vital cash generator for others. And not all to do with fox hunting is actually fox hunting.

With regard to the more 'humane' killing methods, it has been suggested that the fox hunt is more humane (although this is likely to be a highly biased view). Do you think that a farmer is going to sit there and wait for a fox to come along and then wait for a truly clear shot before making sure that he gets a clean shot to the head? No, they will lay traps. And poison is also open for other animals to take.

I'm not saying there isn't a more humane way, but at the moment none are financially, or practically viable.

I hope I don't come accross as pro fox hunting, as I personally am indifferent at the moment (although am defiantely against any cruelty caused by a hunt). We don't live in an ideal world, and I'd rather see time and money spent on erradicating bullying in schools, combatting paedophiles, and ensuring that brass bands are brought to a wider audience. However, what I don't like, is a one sided argument, and so far the pro fox hunting camp haven't made a real post, and don't help themselves by calling people 'townies'.

The truth of the matter is that banning fox hunting would affect a lot more than just hunting foxes.

 

[lynchie]

I am a bumpkin, and yet I still think fox hunting is wrong! It actually really annoys me when the whole issue is blamed on whinging townies.

There are better ways of stopping foxes attacking livestock, like building half decent fences, although the hunters would have you believe foxes are supercreatures that could break into fort knox if there were chickens inside!

And the excuse that it would lose loads of jobs is feeble. Slave traders and drug dealers could say the same about their professions but we still banned them!

Anyway, rant over...

 

[lynchie]

oh dear, I wonder who's actually been on a hunt here?

eh?

I've certainly not, and never want to, but if you think that what happens is that the dogs 'rip apart' the fox, then as far as I'm aware (please note this, I may be horribly wrong), you are sadly mistaken.

Sorry Neil, but that is exactly what happens. Apparently this is the most humane way because the fox dies quickly as the dogs go straight for the neck. However they are still dogs and however much training they get, sometimes they will get it wrong and leave a fox just about alive, which is always the fox the animal rights guys get to stick on their leaflets.

 

[Big Twigge]

I am a country gal too and in some ways can see both sides of the arguement. But what I find particularily annoying is when there is a big hunt and a set meeting point is arranged, horse boxes, landrovers etc are left in the middle of the road as if they have a monopoly over the countryroads...thats what bugs me!

As for someones point about why not shoot birds.....a lot of people do, magpies, pigeons!

 

[Keppler]

I reckon they should replace foxes with corrupt politicians..
now there's a sport..

 

[JessopSmythe]

I reckon they should replace foxes with corrupt politicians..
now there's a sport..

Now now, keppler, didn't you learn grammar at school? You shouldn't use a double negative

On topic, however, I voted leave it to those involved. 59% of people polled last year voted to keep fox hunting however, since most of these votes came from outside the M25, they have, yet again been pushed into irrelevancy. When will mr blair and his cronies learn that there is life outside london?

 

[Aidan]

they should take labradors hunting instead so that if they ever caught the fox they would only lick it anyway

 

[sudcornet]

I was brought up with hunting, and continue to support it as a means of control and as an exciting country sport. I have ridden to hounds and followed on foot/in vehicle and witnessed numerous kills. I have yet to see, or hear of a fox "torn to pieces" by hounds. The kill is extremely quick, although undoubtedly not painless. It is however, I believe, preferable to the alternatives of indiscriminate gassing or shooting. In foxhunting the thrill is the chase and of watching the hounds work. The kill, although the aim, is somewhat secondary and those caught are the old and sick animals. If foxhunting were to be banned it would be far worse for the fox. Vulnerable farmers would employ wholesale methods to ensure the safety of their animals. The fox would be eradicated from the countryside in some areas. It is too easy for the misinformed "antis" to use emotive words like "murder, barbarous and ripped apart" and there are no such words to use in it's defence. This debate will rage on for sometime yet, and, eventually hunting will cease. From then the managed woodland will become innaccessible and gamekeepers and farmers will ensure that foxes do not harm their charges........by exterminating them all.

Sud.

PS. Strange how there are no violent clashes at hunt meets when the local footy team are at home.

 

[Accidental]

I've seen hunts, I've seen a fox torn to pieces, and to my shame when I was a kid I actually wanted to be "blooded"or get to keep the tail.
Sorry sud, but your argument "for" hunting seems to me to be a pretty compelling argument against it! The very fact that hunting is perceived by some participants it as a sport first (and the painful death of an exhausted defenceless creature as insignificant or secondarty) is WHY I think it should be banned. IMO there are many other more efficient ways to "manage" woodland and control the fox population without riding to hounds and tearing up the fields and hedges en route.

ps. not a townie, or a footie fan.

 

[PeterBale]

For those who profess that hunting is all about the exhileration of riding cross-country etc, there is always drag hunting - and that doesn't mean they all wear each others' clothes, but rather that the trail of scent is laid for them to follow! Granted it must lack the unexpected twists and turns of chasing a live fox, but at least there is no cruelty involved - at least not to the fox.

Also, as has already been said, there are many in the countryside who resent the readiness of some hunts and hunt followers to encroach upon their land, occasionally doing damage and frightening their own animals, or worse. As an admitted "townie" myself, but with family connections in the countryside, I accept that things are never clear-cut, but I would tend towards a ban, or at the very least much stricter controls being imposed than are currently in place.

 

[groovy]

I am totally against fox hunting. Foxes control their own population, and I find it unfair that some feel it is humane to chase a fox through fields, until it is so exhauted it can't run, then it is killed. Sometimes pregnant vixens are killed too.
They may be a pest, but surely there must be an alternatives to repelling them from the farms?
It is not only the foxes that are treated unfairly - sometimes the hounds are just shot for not being 'good enough'.
If riders want to enjoy the thrill of the ride over open fields, then go on a drag hunt!

 

[Di]

Sometimes pregnant vixens are killed too.

Or after the happy cubbing event, parent foxes could be killed leaving young cubs to starve. :cry: