Dogs tear live foxes to shreds in the UK - still legal?

[miles]

Now that's what I call sport.



What a bunch of elitist, rich, twits and arseholes. Ah, the light of the world. The center of civilisation.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020318/ap_to_po/britain_hunting

 

[SINthysist]

The paragon of cultures!

Hey this weekend, any weekend, you can go into southern Missourah and see cockfights...

Speaking of which, Tyson should be fighting soon...

Maybe he should warm up on Tanya and Danny first.

 

[christophe]

I dont feel so bad about Wrestlemania now

 

[T.H. Oughts]

I dont feel so bad about Wrestlemania now

Yeah but fox killing is real, Wrestlemania is play acting

 

[miles]

Wrestlers wrestle by choice. Did anyone ask the foxes if they wanted to play while they fled in terror, bleeding from every opening?

At least feed the kill to the poor.

 

[christophe]

Yeah but fox killing is real, Wrestlemania is play acting

WHAT.....WWF isnt real....arghhhhhhhhhhhhh....next you'll tell me woman fake orgasms...say it isnt so

 

[T.H. Oughts]

WHAT.....WWF isnt real....arghhhhhhhhhhhhh....next you'll tell me woman fake orgasms...say it isnt so

Darlin I'm sure there is no way Mrs Christophe could fake one with you around

 

[Calamity Jane]

What a bunch of elitist, rich, twits and arseholes. Ah, the light of the world. The center of civilisation.

Wow! I've never been called a rich elitist twit OR an arsehole! Thanks Miles, for your enlightened view.

 

[miles]

pagangirl

You hunt foxes? Do they let you blow that funny horn?

Cheerio.

 

[Calamity Jane]

Re: pagangirl

You hunt foxes? Do they let you blow that funny horn?

Cheerio.

Yes. (though we don't hunt to kill)

and No. I'm too busy drinking scotch.

 

[Problem Child]

Re: Re: pagangirl

Yes. (though we don't hunt to kill)

and No. I'm too busy drinking scotch.

You don't hunt the little fuckers, you just chase 'em around until you're totally sloshed and fall off your horse on your arse.

 

[Calamity Jane]

Re: Re: Re: pagangirl

You don't hunt the little fuckers, you just chase 'em around until you're totally sloshed and fall off your horse on your arse.

So you've seen me out there?

 

[WriterDom]

Shooting them would cause less suffering don't you think? Oh yeah, guns are evil. But hunting does more to increase the population of wild animals then all the tears shed by liberals over the death of Bambi.

 

[BustyTheClown]

Dom, did you mean decrease?

And miles is right, foxhunting is a sport for elitist twits and arseholes. Hunting not to kill is even more pointless -- what sport is there in chasing a little defenseless fox on horses with all sorts of dogs, killing or not? Sounds like bullying to me.

 

[Vivacia]

I am hoping to hell that the bill to ban it makes it through parliment soon! Personally I don't see the sport in chasing and/or killing anything (I don't agree with any of the "blood sports").

I think it is cruel, I understand that the population of animals like the fox need to be monitored and contained sometimes but there has to be a more humane way of doing it.. like shooting, or even with dogs trained to go striaght for the kill rather than to just rip them to shreads <shudders>.

 

[Calamity Jane]

One quick question.

Have any of you actually witnessed a foxhunt? Or are you relying on an inflammatory article that's written to elicit a specific emotion?

The hounds do NOT 'rip the quarry to shreds' if they're well trained. And any hunt using hounds that aren't well trained should be removed from the association. The hound's job is to follow a scent, run the fox to ground, and then stand down.

In the US, most of the time, we don't even see the quarry, we're following old scents that the animals left hours ago.

I won't get into the 'poor terrified foxes' because if you've never watched a fox or a coyote on a chase, you wouldn't believe me when I described their actions.

I'm totally able to agree to disagree on this issue, but y'all might want to look up some information on both sides of the issue before you decide it's a barbaric activity.

And, though it's a minor point, why do people assume it's a sport only for the rich? Or that it's elitist? Or that we're all mindless twits? Those thoughts confuse the hell out of me.

 

[freescorfr]

One quick question.

Have any of you actually witnessed a foxhunt? Or are you relying on an inflammatory article that's written to elicit a specific emotion?

And, though it's a minor point, why do people assume it's a sport only for the rich? Or that it's elitist? Or that we're all mindless twits? Those thoughts confuse the hell out of me.

I've seen plenty Pagan. In Oxforshire and loads and loads here in France where what has happened in GB is unthinkable.

I've even sat in a glade playing with fox pups while a hunt passed by!

I'm a commune with nature type.

On the other hand I am a bull fight afficionado.

However, I find cruelty abhorrent. So, for me it's all a bit complex.

Is that still a chorizo you're eating?

 

[Myrrdin]

As a farmer in the UK, I will be quite glad when fox hunting is banned. Because then with any luck in a few years the fox will become extinct. The local hunt may catch twenty or thirty foxes in a year, probably the oldest ones and also any that get injured from bullets or cars. A neighbour regularly shoots 200 foxes a year with a rifle and a strong lamp at night. His biggest complaint is that some landowners will not let him on their ground, because they want to preserve some foxes to maintain the tradition of fox hunting. Once fox hunting is banned, there will be no reason to preserve a fox population. We can get rid of the sodding things for good.
Newborn lambs and chickens will then be able to sleep safely at night.

 

[BustyTheClown]

pagan, I'm with Vivacia on this one -- I'm against all "blood sports," I don't care who practices them. You can explain the movements of the fox to me all you like, but I still say that killing defenseless animals (well they're defenseless during the hunt anyway; I know that foxes can do damage to chickens and whatnot) for "sport" is just plain cruel.

I'm also against deer/duck/whatever hunting in Wisconsin. I understand that the populations "need" to be controlled, but like Vivacia said, there must be a more humane way than using sport to get rid of them. Wisconsinites say the deer are encroaching on our territory, when we're the ones who tore down the animals' forests to build the cities and roads we treasure so much.

In short, it all disgusts me, so I'm not simply attacking foxhunting. But the stereotype of the elite foxhunt is one that seems to be prevalent in the UK as well as in other parts of the world -- probably because when it originated, only the rich could afford all the dogs and horses (and time) necessary to hunt. I'm not a foxhunting buff or anything, but that is my guess.

I suppose slack-jawed yokels could foxhunt, too, if they wanted. (And don't take that as me calling you one, please.)

 

[BustyTheClown]

Once fox hunting is banned, there will be no reason to preserve a fox population. We can get rid of the sodding things for good.
Newborn lambs and chickens will then be able to sleep safely at night.

It's sad that you want to kill off an entire species of animal just for your profit -- I understand that as a farmer, your life pretty much depends on your sheep and chickens, etc., but surely you're doing fine if you can afford a computer to post messages with. You're just as bad as the foxhunters, killing (or wanting to kill) animals for your pleasure/benefit.

Try finding more fox-proof equipment before bringing a whole species to extinction. The ecosystem is far more complex than you may realize, and killing off foxes, even just in the UK, may upset the whole system to a great degree.

 

[RawHumor]

I'm also against deer/duck/whatever hunting in Wisconsin. I understand that the populations "need" to be controlled, but like Vivacia said, there must be a more humane way than using sport to get rid of them. Wisconsinites say the deer are encroaching on our territory, when we're the ones who tore down the animals' forests to build the cities and roads we treasure so much.

Speaking as a former deer hunter, I can assure you that putting "need" in quotes is not necessary here. There have been two basic choices available for the deer population - control them through the DNR and hunting or let the population control itself.

The problem with the latter method is that, if not hunted, the deer will quickly become overpopulated (try driving your car in Northern Wisconsin in November sometime - if you don't HIT a deer you'll be likely to at least see a dozen or so) which will cause disease in the deer and injuries and deaths to countless people from car accidents.

According to a radio contest I once heard, deer cause more deaths in the U.S. than any other animal already. I can't imagine if they weren't hunted.

Then you have to ask yourself which way you'd rather die - by being shot in the heart or by starving to death or just getting a disease caused by overpopulation.

I do agree that, in time, the population would stabilize, but one of the questions that you need to ask yourself is how much damage to property and human life would happen until that happened. And is it worth it?

 

[bored1]

I hit a hugh buck last year at night on the freeway..Trashed my car and then was quizzed by the local state police as all kills must be reported.........Animal populations must be controlled .. Walked around a pond or lake lately? I wouldnt care if they shot every fucking Canada goose on the planet.....dirty disgusting creatures, a perfect example of what happens when species are allowed to multiply without controls.....As for the fox hunting.seems weird to me, but its their culture, just as bullfighting is in some countries....

 

[SINthysist]

Yeah, and as we are forced into smaller and smaller cars, the deer are gonna win more and more outcomes. (Except in Oklahoma. There the deer the size of our foxes. They look like really big rabbits. I give ya 50/50, maybe 60-40 one way or the other, in a yugo...)

In our state, there are now more deer than at any time in recorded history. You cannot kill them fast enough. Most every year we extend the season and issue more tags.

I mean, you do want cheap food don't you?

Or are you so enamoured of nature that you would have the deer eat better than you.

And the little boogers are good in chili. Nice lean, healthy meat...

 

[Myrrdin]

you're doing fine if you can afford a computer to post messages with.

Excuse the pun, but I find that a bit rich.
Since when has having access to a computer, equalled financial wealth?

I'm well aware of the balance of nature. It's that balance that has preserved a fox population this long.
For a hunt to survive it has to have a source of foxes to chase. If the fox population was to expire so would the fortune of the hunt. The reverse is equally true.

As for the point about improving security. That's fine, cover the countryside with security fencing, barbed wire and electrified netting. I'm sure that would improve the look of England's green and pleasant land.

Last week during a horse racing meeting, broadcast live on TV and radio, two horses fell and had to be put down. It seems odd to me that the death of two animals during an event thats merely put on for public spectacle and for financial gain is deemed acceptable. Yet the population control of an animal that predates on ground nesting birds and young animals raises such controversy.

Can there be any crueller sport than fishing? Tugging an animal along by a bit of string threaded through his lip. dragging him out onto the bank and then putting him back! To do it all over again. How much crueller can you get.
Of course as fishing is seen as a working mans sport, it's deemed acceptable. And more voters fish than hunt.

 

[bored1]

Well since were off the poor little foxes issue..Ill add another deer story.In Ohio its the same thing deer multiplying like rabbits ...extend the season doesnt matter........let hunters kill more than 2 doesnt matter..The freeway between where I live and the next major city<I70> is littered with carcuses..The state doesnt even pick them up....I think I saw a few foxes chowin down......There were so many deer in a local park they cleaned out the browse line..then people started feeding them apples and stuff, damn things would come up to you on the paths.so the city was gona cull the herd........well the animal rights people threw a fit! So they decided to capture the deer and send them to a farm up north.........well they moved quite a few to some good hearted moron who ended up starving them! In the end the city finally hired sharpshooters and culled the herd at night then gave the meat to the homeless shelters