Posted on 02/19/2005 4:42:53 PM PST by aculeus
Almost 100 foxes were reported killed by hunts across Britain yesterday during a mass show of defiance by foxhunters against the Government ban on their sport.
Hunts including the Tynedale, the Spooners and West Dartmoor, the Bicester, and the South Shropshire all said that they had killed foxes, although each insisted that they had done so in accordance with the new law permitting foxes to be flushed out by no more than two hounds and shot.
The Countryside Alliance, which said that the tally of dead animals was 91, also claimed that the law had not been broken. Yesterday's tally was roughly the same as on any Saturday before the ban was introduced. The League Against Cruel Sports said that it believed that "extremely suspicious" activities had taken place. The police presence at many of the 184 hunts that took place yesterday was minimal and there was little evidence of officers following huntsmen to check whether or not the law was being broken. Tim Bonner, for the Alliance, said that the day of protest, which was supported by thousands of huntsmen and women, had been a great success and had demonstrated the countryside's opposition to the legislation.
"Around one in every two fox hunts killed a fox today," he said. "This goes to show that despite the new law foxes will still be killed and it is not a law designed to protect foxes. It looks suspicious because that is the whole point - people have been hunting trails and that looks the same as the real thing. This is why the police are in an impossible position trying to enforce the ban."
There was further defiance from Kate Hoey, the Labour MP for Vauxhall, who described her party colleagues as "bigoted and prejudiced" when she addressed the Duke of Beaufort's hunt in Gloucestershire to which the Prince of Wales belongs.
"The law is unenforceable. It cannot last long. We will prevail and this law will have to be overturned," she declared to resounding cheers from supporters. I feel a deep sadness that my Government has allowed this ban to go through, but I have confidence in my country and the people of my country that an unjust law cannot last very long. Today is the beginning of the end of a ban on hunting."
Mike Hobday, of the League Against Cruel Sports, which had 100 monitors out at hunts, said that he expected a "small number of prosecutions" to result from yesterday's activities. "Extremely suspicious activities are taking place. We have evidence on film and also from members of the public," he said.
The first arrests under the new law occurred when four men were found by police at 4am between Hullavington and Sherston, Wilts, with four dogs and the carcass of a hare. However, they were suspected of poaching rather than hare coursing and released on bail.
Yesterday's hunts were intent on either drag hunting, exercising the hounds, or deliberately hunting foxes that had already gone to ground.
The South Shropshire, whose joint master is Otis Ferry, son of the singer Bryan Ferry, claimed its first legal kill within an hour near Shrewsbury. The hunt opted to dig out a fox, which was shot dead when it emerged and thrown to the hounds.
One huntsman said: "It's no different to any Saturday when we go hunting."
The mood of supporters across the country was a mix of regret over the compromises forced on them and optimism that their traditions would win through.
At the Duke of Beaufort's in Gloucestershire, the atmosphere was one of noisy exuberance. The hunt master, Capt Ian Farquhar, told a large crowd that he had wept for his hounds at breakfast. He concluded by borrowing words from Winston Churchill: "He said, 'We must keep buggering on.' I intend to keep buggering on."
Also present at the Beaufort was Capt Mark Phillips, who said that he was deeply saddened by the ban and had come out to show support. "I hunted as a child, as did my parents and grandparents before them. It's sad that this ban has come in. I think there is probably a future in hunting but we will just have to wait and see," he said.
Jeremy Irons, the actor, also registered his opposition to the ban by attending the Bicester in Oxfordshire. He said the legislation was "the thin end of the wedge".
"England is made up of minorities, whether Asian or huntsmen. I believe we should be allowed to live in liberty," he said. "The important thing is that we intend to challenge the law. So it's important to keep the infrastructure together."
More than 700 riders and 3,500 pedestrians congregated in Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire to protest at the ban.
The supporters blocked roads and held up traffic, and applauded riders with Quorn, Cottesmore and Belvoir hunts as they paraded from the Cattle Market to the Hunting Museum.
The police presence at all the hunts was muted. At the Dulverton Farmers' Hunt on Exmoor, a policeman even joined in the drag hunt. Rod Brammer, a local landowner and hunt follower, said: "One of the old generals here told me that a policeman turned up in a Land Rover and said he had had to put in an appearance. Then he left and 10 minutes later he was back in his gear and he joined in. He is a member of the hunt, after all."
Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence.
Ah, got it.
.32 calibre single shot pistol. Under certain conditions the fox can be flushed and shotguns used.
You are allowed to own firearms for hunting, including shotguns.
Regards, Ivan
Exactly. Arabian horses never get flat tires.
However, its very important that fear of the helpless animal is evident to the revelers before disintegration.
Next, everyone must dress for an evening of dinner and art. Perhaps a trendy theatre will deepen the satisfaction for an enjoyable and fruitful day.
Golly good.
I hate those things. Although I heard goose is good eating....
"I feel a deep sadness that my Government has allowed this ban to go through, but I have confidence in my country and the people of my country that an unjust law cannot last very long."
Either good oratory or sad self-delusion. Westminster and the apparently perpetual majority of Labour does not care a fig for what the little people think of their policies. Let them eat cake!!
http://www.militaryhorse.org/upsaddle/features.htm
Click on second pic for a very cool shot of "the military horse" in action..
You don't have to be 'well connected' to hold a Firearms/Shotgun Certificate in the UK. As with any sport there is a financial outlay. Joining a Wildfowling Club in the UK is a good option.
Sorry - we still foxhunt using horses and hounds. And we still course rabbits (used to be hare, then jackrabbits, now only rabbits) with hounds.
Tradition is tradition.
Besides, foxhunting w/o horses would just not be foxhunting.
Carry on.
LOL! I just finished dinner and we had Canada Goose, it was great.
I hope the Brits have the sense to keep up the fight.
In the UK, foxes are a serious agricultural pest. They have no predators or competitors, and are replicating out of control. They destroy poultry production and decimate sheep herds, even eating spring lambs as they are being born. For British agriculture, already severely damaged by the hoof-and-mouth epidemic of a few years ago and challenged by the EU, foxes are a significant problem.
The government of the UK ordered a study of the problem, and the resulting Burns Report showed clearly that of all the ways to keep the fox population under control, hunting with hounds was the most kind and the most efficient. Other alternatives, like digging the hounds out of their dens and shooting them, trapping them, and poisoning them, ended up causing far more pain and terror to the animals than the quick snap of the neck given by a foxhound.
It's easy to despise foxhunters because of class envy, which is just as prevalent here as in the British Isles. In fact, foxhunters represent a social cross-section because hunting there is not an expensive sport and almost anybody who is solvent can take part. It doesn't require fancy clothes or a fancy horse, so lots of ordinary working people hunt. The ban in the UK is driven by the hatred the Labour Party (read: left-liberals) feel toward country life, British tradition, and the values that made England great, not out of any real concern for the welfare of animals.
In England, Scotland, Ireland, and to a lesser extent Wales, foxhunting also represents an important economic engine. Purveyors of saddlery and clothing, horse sellers, trainers, farriers, vets, and breeders, horse transport companies, hound men, and so on ad infinitum find their employment in the hunting industry and have training for no other work. The end of foxhunting will represent an economic disaster in the UK. But Labour applauds this, too. More country people out of work means a larger welfare state.
In addition, the thousands of hounds bred and trained for foxhunting will have to be put down if hunting stops, since hunting hounds cannot be adopted and made into house pets. The animal-rights activists who pushed for this ban seem to care nothing about that.
Do you think hunting is cruel? Nature is cruel. Country life, so close to nature, is therefore also cruel. We as humans can do our best to ameliorate unavoidable suffering, but there are some facts of life that can't be changed because we dislike them. The need to destroy an overgrowth of predators is a fact of life, and the country people of England have over the centuries devised a way to do that.
Before I left they were trying to pass some law that would allow them to feed the homeless folks with them. I can't remember if it was passed or if the outcry against it defeated it.
Very good summary. Thanks for your post.
What's your view on the matter?
You're closer to it than most on this forum.
Just like Blue States of America
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