Fox-Hunting

[TheFaQQer]

I used to go out shooting them as a kid, I hate the things, they are northing but flea ridden vermin.

So are squirrels.

[DimPrawn]

I used to go out shooting them as a kid, I hate the things, they are northing but flea ridden vermin.

How, as kid I would have loved to have had a shooter on my council estate.

I reckon I would have nailed a lot of vermin.

[Bagpuss]

Shooting them can often be worse for them. You can seriously wound them and they might not die for days, they are also nocturnal and shooting at night is not ideal.

When you see what a fox will do if it gets in a hen house you will not have any qualms about setting the dogs on them. Too many people think they are just mini lassie dogs, they are brutal little animals that will kill for the fun of it.

It doesn't sound like you know what you are talking about. A hunt is not an effective way of controlling the fox population. I have worked on farms, a few of my school friends had farms. They weren't tenant farmers so they didn't have to put up with the bs from the hunt. I still remember having to catch some escaped dogs from the hunt that were felling sheep, it killed quite a few. Once a dog gets a taste for blood it will kill anything it can.

Not to mention when they damaged several turf fields worth thousands and left gates open resulting in cattle roaming on the roads. The local huntmaster was also involved in Badger baiting it later emerged, which was not really that surprising given some of the unsavory people who follow hunts (usual nastly little chavs, contrary to the imagination of the city boys).

Let them do it on their own land if they want ,but invariably they don't.

[VectraMan]

Anyway, I used to be a butcher and still find it odd that people are willing to eat battery chickens and their eggs by the dozen but go fruit loop when a dog kills a fox. It is a fashionable cause because it is getting one over the toffs. Labour used it to gain votes in the last election because they knew it is such an emotive subject.

That's somewhat missing the point. Nobody is saying that foxes are cute and cuddly, and nobody is saying that they shouldn't be culled if they are a nuisance. And maybe it's even true that using dogs is an effective way of doing that, though that's hard to believe.

It's making a sport out of killing that is what most people consider to be abhorent.

[DodgyAgent]

That's somewhat missing the point. Nobody is saying that foxes are cute and cuddly, and nobody is saying that they shouldn't be culled if they are a nuisance. And maybe it's even true that using dogs is an effective way of doing that, though that's hard to believe.

It's making a sport out of killing that is what most people consider to be abhorent.

Well it works better than any other practical way of culling foxes. It doesnt cost the taxpayer any money, the price of chickens is kept low and a bunch of toffs get to ride around in silly outfits. If a few people can earn a living out of it and a few countyfolk can get their weekly sadistic fix without having to torture peasants then so what?

[swamp]

Well it works better than any other practical way of culling foxes. It doesnt cost the taxpayer any money, the price of chickens is kept low and a bunch of toffs get to ride around in silly outfits. If a few people can earn a living out of it and a few countyfolk can get their weekly sadistic fix without having to torture peasants then so what?

WHS

I don't like fox hunting, but banning it was wrong and has probably only served to increase its support.

[Zippy]

There was something on the BBC news the other day that said support for hunting had increased since the hounds started "following trails"

[Tarquin Farquhar]

I never have been, or would want to go to, a hunt.
But I like the idea that the Tories will repeal/amend the law to allow the hunts to get back out there doing their stuff

I really hate the class warriors like Brown and Harman et al.

I hate the ruling class that they are warring against. The French had the right idea about the aristos.

As for controlling the fox population, fine. But is a cavalry charge in fancy dress really the way to do it? And to do it for the enjoyment of seeing a creature ripped apart? Surely those who actually enjoy that are psychopaths. They need to be watched.

[Moscow Mule]

There was something on the BBC news the other day that said support for hunting had increased since the hounds started "following trails"

I don't think any new hunts have been created - the old ones just haven't disbanded and go on drag hunts (where a scent is trailed).

Occasionally, they happen across the scent of a live fox. So long as it wasn't the intention of the hunt to kill a fox that day, they are ok (by the law).

[Zippy]

I don't think any new hunts have been created - the old ones just haven't disbanded and go on drag hunts (where a scent is trailed).

Occasionally, they happen across the scent of a live fox. So long as it wasn't the intention of the hunt to kill a fox that day, they are ok (by the law).

It wasn't clear whether the hunts have more subscribers or whether there are more pay-as-you-gallop participants.