fox hunting

I would love to get some idiot who likes this kind of thing and chase them around the countryside on a quad bike armed with a baseball bat and chainsaw.

@pete wrote:

I have to disagree, dont hunt them, dont shoot them, dont gas them, leave them alone

Trouble is pete they have left them alone in the main and the fox is now suffering for it, they do need controlling to some extent when they are killing a farmers stock, for example, as when a fox finds an easy target they will keep returning to that easy target so before u know it and each time it does it doesnt just pick one off it slaughters many in the process. So they are now being shot mainly often escaping wounded and in agonising pain. Atleast when they were hunted the sick and old were the ones that were caught the young and fit were too quick, too clever to fall prey to a hound. So now those diseased animals are just spreading their disease such as mange and leptosporosis (sp)to both their own kind and our very own domestic pets. And indeed toxocariasis a disease which foxes are likely to transmit to man.I can see why hunting seems cruel and i like foxes they are beautiful creatures, but … what is the alternative ?
Also regarding the blokes that got done for their dogs killing a fox im not entirely sure but i have this vague recollection that the hunting ban said not more than 2 dogs are allowed to chase a quarry, so if this is the case im not sure how that act was illegal unless they had more than 2 dogs or did somehing else.
There are studies that say foxes minds are not conditioned to withstand the pain and stress of wounding by shooting (an entirely unnatural event), whereas they appear to be conditioned so that they do not suffer mentally when chased (an entirely natural event). At the end of the chase foxhounds kill the fox in a few seconds. And yes i’m sure that will and has been opposed i dont know how true that is, but from what ive seen of a fox being hunted i can agree with that, most of a chase is done with a fox having plenty of time not under any real pressure alot of the time, until obviously they do get caught or just before, it has even been known for afox to have been seen catching its own prey mid hunt and running off with it in its mouth before “outfoxing ” excuse the pun the hounds.
But i agree its a very controversial and emotive subject, and easy to doggedly fall on one side of the arguement simply because it can appear cruel to a degree especially the way anti hunt sabs relay and show things, but i guess that applies to most arguements.

I agree poli, and what I cannot fathom are the anti hunt protesters that shout it`s cruel to kill a fox in such a way, yet they will maim and kill the hounds, the horses, and the people!

I realise that not everyone will agree, but surely as a wild animal, being hunted and killed is natural, and normally it`s only the old, weak, and/or sick that are caught.

I disagree with using terriers, and eagles, if you`re going to hunt, then hunt fairly, if the fox escapes then it should be allowed… it won that battle, and goes along with survival of the fittest.

And the reason for pro hunters constructing earths to encourage foxes to breed and feeding fox cubs ?

Copper the fox made national headlines. After being chased, and caught, by the Chiddingford, Leconfield and Cowdray Hunt hounds, he managed to bolt down a rabbit hole. Luckily, Hunt Saboteurs were close by and physically blocked the hounds from Copper, using a policeman’s helmet.

Copper had suffered bite wounds to his rear flanks and was losing blood from his penis due to kidney damage caused during the stress and exhaustion of the long run from the hounds. The vet was able to offer scientific evidence that hunted foxes undergo pathological stress, a level of suffering so intense that they can die even if they succeed in escaping the jaws of the hounds. He was quoted as saying ‘I have never seen such trauma in a dog, even a badly injured one.’