Thanks for visiting my blog. Those who know me well will understand why I have created this page. Animal cruelty must stop. To any animal. Foxes are just my particular favorite and do not deserve to be hunted and torn to pieces by dogs.<\/p>
Here are a few facts for you courtesy of the League Against Cruel Sports.<\/p>
Fox hunting is a \u2018traditional sport\u2019 in which hunters, usually on horseback, follow a pack of hunting dogs aiming to pick up the scent of a fox, chase it \u2013 and kill it. Fox hunting is illegal in England, Scotland and Wales, but evidence suggests that hunts are regularly breaking the law.<\/p>
IS FOX HUNTING ILLEGAL?Fox hunting is illegal in England, Scotland and Wales. It is still legal in Northern Ireland.<\/p>
Fox hunting was banned by the Hunting Act 2004 in England and Wales, and the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 in Scotland. But while these were both welcome and hard-fought pieces of legislation, overwhelming evidence suggests that both are being ignored or exploited by hunts on a regular basis.<\/p>
Hunts in England and Wales invented the activity of \u2018trail\u2019 hunting after the fox hunting ban came in. This claims to be a non-lethal sport where the hunt simply follows a pre-laid trail rather than searching for and chasing a fox. However, years of evidence shows that hunts are using trail hunting as a cover for illegal hunting by claiming to be following a trail but still carrying on and hunting foxes the way they did before the hunting ban.<\/p>
Hunts in England and Wales also use \u2018exemptions\u2019 in the Hunting Act. These were designed to allow certain types of \u2018pest\u2019 control or scientific research, but are being exploited by the hunts to give them an excuse to carry on hunting.<\/p>
In Scotland, an exemption in the law allows foxes to be killed by \u2018flushing to guns\u2019, where a pack of hounds is allowed to be used to chase a fox from cover where it can be shot. However, evidence from League investigators shows hunts claiming to be flushing to guns \u2013 but without having any guns present in the right place.<\/p>
MOST PEOPLE WANT TO STOP FOX HUNTINGIf you are opposed to hunting, then you are in the majority. More than eight out of ten people are opposed to hunting. This includes more than eight out of ten people in rural areas \u2013 which shows that people who truly understand and experience what hunts do want to see it remain illegal.<\/p>
Hunting is not a town vs country issue, and it is not a \u2018class\u2019 issue. More than seven out of 10 Conservative voters want hunting to remain illegal. Hunting is an issue of animal cruelty, nothing else.<\/p>
Some argue that \u2018hunting\u2019 should continue because it\u2019s a grand old British tradition. However, bear baiting and bull baiting were also traditions, and they were rightfully consigned to the history books. Traditions are measured in more than years. They have to reflect the values and attitudes of a society, and the vast majority of the British people oppose hunting with dogs.<\/p>
IS FOX HUNTING \u2018PEST CONTROL\u2019?Fox hunting is not a credible form of pest control. Hunters claim that they are helping farmers by killing foxes, but this is a senseless argument that most people no longer believe. The League does not believe that there is any requirement for lethal fox control, but even if there was, then hunting is neither a humane nor effective way of doing it.<\/p>
Any suggestion that fox hunting is about \u2018pest control\u2019 can be dismissed very quickly by the fact that hunts have been caught capturing and raising foxes purely so they can then be hunted. In May 2015, a League investigation revealed 16 terrified fox cubs held captive in a barn linked to a fox hunt in Yorkshire. We rescued them, took them to a vet, and sadly one died, but we released the others to safety. We are proud to have protected those foxes.<\/p>
While the scale of this fox \u2018factory\u2019 was shocking, it\u2019s not an isolated case. In December 2015, League Investigators released a fox found locked in a building near to where the Belvoir Hunt was meeting. It is worth mentioning that a few months later, while monitoring the same hunt, our Investigators were brutally attacked, leaving one with a broken neck, which we believe was retaliation for us rescuing this fox.<\/p>
WHY IS FOX HUNTING BAD?Scientific evidence shows that the animals targeted in hunting suffer physical and mental stress when chased by a hunt - whether or not they are eventually killed.<\/p>
The Burns Report produced in the year 2000 stated that \u201cThere is a lack of firm scientific evidence about the effect on the welfare of a fox of being closely pursued, caught and killed above ground by hounds. We are satisfied, nevertheless, that this experience seriously compromises the welfare of the fox.\u201d That is one of the reasons hunting with dogs for sport was banned in Britain over a decade ago.<\/p>
Foxes naturally escape predators by going underground, but hunts employ staff to block up these escape routes the morning before a hunt meet, forcing an unnaturally long chase. If someone is found guilty of blocking a badger sett, it is often done for this reason.<\/p>
If a fox does succeed in escaping underground, hunt followers send terriers down the hole to trap the fox while they dig it out and then shoot it. Again, the Burns Report concluded that the inability to escape dogs underground causes the fox \u2018extreme fear\u2019 and is a \u2018serious compromise of its welfare.\u2019<\/p>
Autopsies reveal hunted foxes are not killed quickly, but endure numerous bites and tears to their flanks and hindquarters - causing enormous suffering before death. Foxes forced to face terriers underground can suffer injuries to the face, head and neck, as can the terriers.<\/p>
FOXES AREN\u2019T VERMINNo other native British mammal divides opinion as deeply as the red fox. We believe the evidence does not support the criticism of this iconic British species. While foxes are of course predators \u2013 they kill other animals for food \u2013 their impact on livestock is exaggerated, and can be reduced with good farming practices.<\/p>
The threat of the \u2018fox in the chicken coop\u2019 can be remedied with a secure electric fence. While sheep farmers may curse foxes for the loss of their lambs, in reality studies have shown that poor farming practices, disease and bad weather are far more likely to lead to lamb deaths. A 2000 study in Scotland found that around just 1% of lamb losses could be directly attributed to foxes.<\/p>
On the other hand, by feeding on rabbits, a 2003 study estimated that rural foxes save British crop farmers around \u00a37m per year.<\/p>
THE OTHER VICTIMS OF HUNTINGThe animal being hunted is the ultimate victim of hunting with hounds, but there are others.<\/p>
Hunts regularly breed more puppies than are required for the hunting pack. Only the most promising are selected, often through the tradition of \u2018cub hunting\u2019, during which the riders surround an area containing fox cubs and send the hounds in to learn how to kill them. We also have recent evidence of fox cubs being thrown to the hounds at a hunt kennels \u2013 to teach the dogs that they should kill these animals. Those dogs that fail to make the grade at any stage from birth onwards are killed.<\/p>
Once dogs have entered the pack they are culled if they fail to thrive as pack animals, if they become ill and unable to keep up with the pack, when they become too old to hunt with the pack, or when they become surplus to hunt requirements. The average hunt dog lives much less than the normal life expectancy for a dog of the breed.<\/p>
Fox hunting also relies on terriers to chase foxes underground. This so-called terrier-work leads to painful injuries to both the dogs and the foxes.<\/p>
HUNT HAVOCHunts can cause havoc in the countryside when the pack of hounds picks up the scent of a fox. It is common for the hunting dogs to maraud through farms, disturb and kill livestock or pets, and often be seen crossing major roads and railway lines \u2013 all of which helps to prove that the pack is not following a pre-laid \u2018trail\u2019, which the hunts claim they are doing.<\/p>
PROTECTING THE HUNTING BANHunting wild mammals with dogs for sport was banned in Scotland in 2002 and England and Wales in 2004. These are fantastic achievements! However, the battle to stamp out hunting in the UK is not yet won as these bans have not been properly enforced, the attempts to eliminate or weaken them continue, and hunting is still legal in Northern Ireland.<\/p>
There were two attempts by the Government to weaken the Hunting Act, most recently in July 2015. The League was at the forefront of the campaign to ensure that this attempt to bring back hunting by the back door did not succeed.<\/p>
In September 2016 we teamed up with respected explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes to educate MPs about the realities of hunting at the Conservative Party conference, leading Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom to drop mention of repeal from her speech.<\/p>
As a key player in the hard-fought battle to get hunting with dogs banned in the first place, the League Against Cruel Sports is working hard to ensure the law is properly enforced, and that any attempts to weaken or repeal the legislation are successfully exposed and blocked.<\/p>
We would like to see both the Hunting Act 2004 in England and Wales, and the Wild Mammals Protection (Scotland) Act 2002 strengthened, as currently hunts are regularly either simply ignoring the law under the cover of false alibi's such as \u201ctrail hunting\u201d, or abusing the use of \u2018exemptions\u2019 to allow them to carry on as normal. We are also working to see hunting with dogs banned in Northern Ireland, which remains the only jurisdiction in the UK where it is still legal.<\/p>
After 90 years of campaigning to both bring about and enforce a ban on hunting with hounds for sport, we remain ever vigilant in defence of the ban. We believe that campaigning for a strengthening of the laws to facilitate enforcement and creating a stronger deterrent effect, is the way forward.<\/p>
HOW CAN I HELP STOP FOX HUNTING?Contact your MP and ask them to urge their party to keep and strengthen the foxhunting banJoin one of our supporter groups to help us raise awareness that fox hunting still takes place,<\/p>
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