[Eric in the Ozarks]

I'm sure you can tell us a few things about what passes for civility and law in the UK.
As a former bird dog owner, would my late, departed Golden Retriver be out of a job with the advent of new legislation ? Are there bird hunts anywhere in England ?
The closest I can come to running down foxes with dogs would be coon hunting, done after dark, in some areas of the US.

[Spirochete]

There's a club in Brenham, Texas that organizes English-style hunts for coyotes. Horses, hounds, red jackets, the works.

[tjwmason]

I'm sure you can tell us a few things about what passes for civility and law in the UK.

Unfortunately the two concepts are being driven apart by this ghastly new legislation.

As a former bird dog owner, would my late, departed Golden Retriver be out of a job with the advent of new legislation ?

No. Shooting is still legal, and this usually involves the use of dogs to retrieve the birds which have been shot. In such cases the dog is not being used to chase and kill the animal - which is the criterion covered by the new law. Incidentally, Her Majesty the Queen is well known as an excellent handler of gun-dogs.

Are there bird hunts anywhere in England ?

Not in the English sense of the word 'hunt'; the principal quarry of the hunt is foxes, but there are also hunts for stags, hares and a few others. There are tons of bird shoots, indeed on occasion one can hear the guns from my house. I doubt that hunting birds would be very effective, as they could simply fly away.

I seem to remember hearing that there is a small fox hunting fraternity in the U.S. probably focused around Virginia. Certain on the last Countryside March I saw a few Americans carrying Old Glory (and very welcome they were).