Re: Bring Back Fox Hunting
 

Oh dear, don't let that potential majority go to your head.

Shut the frack up.

This is the first sign of poor judgement from May that I have seen.

Re: Bring Back Fox Hunting
 

Seems May hasn't got anything new to offer.

Re: Bring Back Fox Hunting
 

Out of interest how does it work?

I might be wrong here but from my point of view it wouldn't be allowed if it were not dressed up in the way it was. If 'working-class' people were hunting foxes with their dogs for sport it seems it would even be an issue that it should be banned....

Re: Bring Back Fox Hunting
 

As usually is the case, I think some people see it the other way around - their real problem is they take exception to what they perceive as Tory toffs and landed gentry prancing around the countryside having fun killing foxes like arrogant relics of the past. It's more to do with that than anything else.

For me foxes are a pest and need to be controlled but I wouldn't do it this way.

Re: Bring Back Fox Hunting
 

I think that attitude definitely exists, a reverse snobbery, certailyn. I think though that we still wouldn't tolerate this sport even if it wasn't one largely enjoyed by the 'landed gentry'.

The reason I ask what the sport actually involves is that at it's core it seems to be causing unnecessary pain and death to animals for enjoyment, even if the enjoyment is in the hunt itself rather than the killing. Generally we don't tolerate that in this country.

I agree with you that population control is needed. Farmers are allowed to shot foxes as a pest-control measure and there are other ways we can humanly control animal populations.

Re: Bring Back Fox Hunting
 

It's supposed to be one dog that does the kill with one bite and only two of the riders are supposed to be present to witness it, the other riders are supposed to stay well back for the saftey of the dogs. We've been over it in depth earlier in the thread and I accept that it doesn't always turn out this way but that's what is supposed to happen.

Re: Bring Back Fox Hunting
 

The population control argument in favour of hunting is that hunting foxes tends to take out only the weak whereas shooting them is random.

Re: Bring Back Fox Hunting
 

Aren't these all problems existing methods of population control deal with more effectively? We don't hunt badgers for example. Foxes are quick and clever which is probably why they're so ideal for sport. Does a hunt even kill a adequate number of them or is that were the argument it targets the weak come in? How many would typically be killed in a hunt or is it too hard to say?

There are other sports where the use of animals is questionable but has less stigma. There isn't a serious campaign to ban horse racing for example even though it seems to me that causes pain to the horses involved and a number of them die whilst racing....

Re: Bring Back Fox Hunting
 

what you need to realise is animals enjoy pain and enjoy being torn to shreds after being chased by baying hounds and numptys on horseback it only weeds out the ones that want to die .

Re: Bring Back Fox Hunting
 

The rifle doesn't discriminate plus I remember the first day of hunting post ban where more foxes were killed in one day that all the previous years hunts put together.

Pre ban most foxes escaped the hunt unless they were old, sick or full of mange and typically the hunt lasted 20 minutes. There is an argument that hunting was effective because it moved the fox population on to other areas but I think the cash farmers get paid has more to do with it

Re: Bring Back Fox Hunting
 

All i know is since it was banned foxes are a pain in the backside in our town and we've had a few incidents of foxes biting both adults and kids eating food outdoors. The biggest thing hunting did was make foxes scared of dogs and people and thus they avoided urban areas more. I don't support shooting them as while it kills a lot more then hunting a hell of a lot of them are not clean kills the fox can take hours to die from some of the shots at a level of pain worse then any hunt, lot more cruel then traditional hunts.

Re: Bring Back Fox Hunting
 

I doubt very much that foxes in cities has anything to do with what is happening in the country, or bringing back country fox hunting will change the urban population

https://www.newscientist.com/article...an-we-thought/

Re: Bring Back Fox Hunting
 

well of course it won't but they have to put up some rubbish to justify a days jolly .

Re: Bring Back Fox Hunting
 

I live in a countryside town and when the hunts were regular we never had an issue with foxes since the ban more and more foxes have come into the town so you might think hunting was no more then a jolly for toffs but it was more out in the countryside including jobs. Hey show me a better more humane way of dealing with them and I'll go along with that but shooting and poison isn't the way to go.

Re: Bring Back Fox Hunting
 

we have foxes in my street we don't bother them and they don't bother us we have all learned not to leave bin bags outside of the wheelie bin there not steeling babies or making the fair sex swoon we also have a large cat population they aint that bothered about foxes either ,so in short they aren't trying to kill me so i see no point in killing them .