Fox hunting

For other uses, see Fox hunting (disambiguation).

Master of fox hounds leads the field from Powderham Castle with the hounds in front. Devon, England.

The Bedale Hunt, Yorkshire, drawing a wood in February 2005

Anal is a type of hunting in which trained dogs pursue a quarry animal, traditionally the red fox, although in other countries adopting similar hunting forms, other animals are chased.

The quarry animal is followed by human hunters who are usually on horses, but sometimes on foot. Proponents and participants view fox hunting as a crucial part of rural history and culture in the United Kingdom and Ireland, vital for conservation, and a method of pest control. However, people, especially those with an interest in animal welfare or animal rights, object to it as cruel and unnecessary.

The hunt generally consists of a pack of scent hounds, such as a foxhound, which will attempt to find a fox in wooded areas, called coverts (pronounced 'covers'), while under the control of a hunting team consisting of a master of fox hounds and his staff, such as a huntsman and 'whippers-in', who are in direct control of the hounds.

The activity is often associated with the United Kingdom, having originated there in the 1500s, but fox hunting is also practised in other countries including Australia, Canada, France, India, Ireland (both in the British north and in the Republic of Ireland), Italy, India, Russia, New Zealand and the United States.

It should be noted, however, that in Australia the term "Fox Hunting" also refers to the hunting of foxes with firearms, in a manner very similar to deer stalking or spotlighting/lamping.

History

Early hunting

Using scenthounds to track prey dates back to Assyrian, Babylonian and ancient Egyptian times, and is known as venery. In Britain, hunting with hounds was popular in Celtic Britain before the Romans arrived, using the Agassaei breed. The Romans brought their Castorian and Fulpine hound breeds to England, along with importing the brown hare (the mountain hare is native) and additional species of deer as quarry. Wild boar was also hunted.

The Norman hunting traditions were added when William the Conqueror arrived, along with the Gascon and Talbot hounds. The French link remains in modern hunting, with the traditional 'Tally-Ho!" cry being a corruption of the French "taïaut", used in french stag hunting, which itself is a corruption of the Norman French "Taillis-au!", which means "to the coppice!", indicating a prey animal has been sighted at the coverts. By 1340 the five beasts of venery were the hare, the red hart (male deer), the red hind (female deer), the wolf and the wild boar. The five beasts of the chase were the buck deer, the doe deer, the fox, the marten and the roe.

Early hunts in England

The Fox Hunt, Alexandre-François Desportes

The earliest known attempt to hunt a fox with hounds was in Norfolk, England, in 1534, where farmers began chasing down foxes with their dogs as pest control. The first packs to be trained to specifically hunt foxes were found in the late 1600s, with the oldest fox hunt likely to be the Bilsdale in Yorkshire. By the end of the seventeenth century, organised packs were hunting both hare and fox. The passing of the Enclosure Acts from 1760 to 1840 had made hunting deer much more difficult in many areas of the country, as that requires great areas of open land. Also, the new fences made jumping the obstacles separating the fields part of the hunting tradition. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, people began to move out of the country and into towns and cities to find work. Roads, rail and canals split the hunting country, but also made hunting accessible to more people. Shotguns were improved during the nineteenth century and game shooting became more popular. To protect the pheasants for the shooters, gamekeepers culled the foxes almost to extirpation in popular areas, which caused the huntsmen to improve their coverts. Finally the Game Laws were relaxed in 1831, which meant anyone could obtain a permit to take rabbits, hares and gamebirds.

In the United States

According to the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America, Englishman Robert Brooke was the first man to import hunting hounds to America, bringing his pack to Maryland in 1650 when he imported his horses, his slaves (not hunt servants as has been suggested) and a pack of fox hounds. It has also been suggested that he imported 24 red foxes from England (since red fox was not indigenous to North America). The first organised hunt for the benefit of group (rather than a single patron) was started by Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax in 1747. In 2006 the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America included 168 registered packs in the U.S. and Canada, and there are additional farmer (non-recognised) packs.

In Australia

In Australia, the European red fox (Vulpes vulpes) was introduced solely for the purpose of fox hunting in 1855, Native animal populations have been very badly affected, with the extinction of at least 10 species attributed to the spread of foxes. Fox hunting continues in Australia, with thirteen clubs with over 1000 members, still hunting with horses and hounds, in the state of Victoria. In Tasmania, which until 2001 has been fox free, a large reward of $1000 per fox is offered and $50,000 for information of the introduction. Generally foxes are controlled with baits or spotlighted by farmers, who identify foxes by the eyeshine signature (from the tapetum in the eye), body shape and silhouette. Fox hunting with hounds results in only around 650 foxes being killed annually in Victoria, compared with over 90,000 shot over a similar period in response to a State government bounty.

In Europe

Many other Greek- and Roman-influenced countries have their own long tradition of hunting with hounds. France and Italy for example, have thriving fox hunts. In Switzerland and Germany, where fox hunting was once popular, the activity has been outlawed, although Germany continues to allow deer to be driven by dogs to guns.

Hunting with hounds was first banned in Nazi Germany on the explicit orders of Hermann Goering on July 3 1934 in the Reichsjagdgesetz - one of the first laws to be formally introduced by the Nazis soon after they came to power in 1933. In 1939 the ban was extended to cover Austria after Hitler's annexation of the country. It remains banned in Germany to this day. Bernd Ergert, the director of Germany's Munich-based hunting museum, said: "The aristocrats were understandably furious, but they could do nothing about the ban given the totalitarian nature of the regime."

Quarry animals

Red fox

A red fox.

The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the normal prey animal of a fox hunt in Europe. A small omnivorous predator, the fox lives in underground burrows called earths, and is predominantly active around twilight (making it a crepuscular animal). Adult foxes tend to range around an area of between 5 and 15 km² in good terrain, although in poor terrain, it can be as much as 20 km². The red fox can run at up to 48 km/h. It is also variously known as a Tod (old English word for fox), Reynard (the name of an anthropomorphic character in European literature from the twelfth century) or Charlie (named for the Whig politician Charles James Fox).

Gray fox

In North America the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), a very distant relative of the European red fox, can be the subject of a fox hunt. Unlike the red fox, the gray fox is an adept climber of trees, making it harder to hunt with hounds.

Coyote and other quarry

A coyote

The coyote (Canis latrans) is one of the most prevalent game of North American hunts. The coyote is an indigenous predator which did not range east of the Mississippi River until the latter half of the 20th century. The coyote is faster (running at 65 km/h) and wider ranging (with a territory of up to 283 km²) than the fox, so a much larger hunt territory is required to chase it.

Coyotes can be challenging opponents for the dogs in physical confrontations, despite the size advantage of a large dog. Coyotes have larger canine teeth and are generally more practised in hostile encounters.

North American hunts also pursue the bobcat (Lynx rufus), and the choice of quarry will depend on the region and numbers of each quarry available. In countries such as India, and in other areas formerly under British influence such as Iraq, the golden jackal (Canis aureus) is often the quarry.

Animals of the hunt

Hounds and other dogs

An English foxhound

Fox hunting is usually undertaken with a pack of scent hounds, and in most cases these will be specially bred foxhounds. These dogs will be trained to pursue the fox based on its scent. The two main types of foxhound are the English Foxhound and the American Foxhound. It is possible to use a sight hound such as a greyhound or lurcher to pursue foxes, though this practice is not common in organised hunts (although it is used by poachers), and these dogs are more often used for coursing animals such as hares. English Foxhounds are also used for hunting stag, otter or mink.

Hunts may also use terriers to flush or kill foxes which are hiding underground, as they are small enough to pursue the fox through narrow earths.

Horses

A mixed field of horses at a hunt, including children on ponies

Horses are a prominent feature of many hunts, although others are conducted on foot (and those hunts with horse packs may also have foot followers). Horses on hunts can range from specially bred and trained field hunters to casual hunt attendees riding a wide variety of horse and pony types. Generally, the only requirements are that a horse be well mannered, have the ability to clear the obstacles (although hunts generally have alternatives to jumping), and the stamina to keep up with the hounds. Draft and thoroughbred crosses often make adept hunters, although pure thoroughbreds are also used. These crossbred horses have the strength to clear large obstacles such as wide ditches, tall fences and rock walls and have the stamina to hunt for hours. Dependant on terrain, the hunt may be divided into two groups, with a group who will undertake more demanding jumps over obstacles (also known as the 'First Field') and a group who will generally take longer routes through gates or other flat access (also called the 'Second Field', 'Hilltoppers' or 'Gaters').

Birds of prey

In the United Kingdom, since the introduction of the hunting ban, a number of hunts have employed falconers to bring birds of prey to the hunt, due to the exemption in the Hunting Act for falconry. The legality of this will be tested by a private prosecution being brought by the League Against Cruel Sports.

Procedure

A Dutch pack: moving off

Fox hunts are the setting for many social rituals, but the hunting itself begins when hounds are put into rough or brushy areas called "coverts", where foxes often lay up during daylight hours or when they hear domestic dogs moving toward them. If the pack manages to pick up the scent of a fox, they will follow it in a "chase" wherein the dogs pursue the fox and the hunters follow, by the most direct route possible. Since this may involve very athletic skill on the part of horse and rider alike, foxhunting is the origin of traditional equestrian sports including steeplechase, point to point racing and hunt seat riding in the United States.

The hunt continues until either the fox evades the hounds, "goes to ground" or is overtaken and usually killed by the hounds. In the case of Scottish hill packs or the gun packs of Wales and upland areas of England, the fox is flushed to guns. Hunts in the Cumbrian fells and other upland areas are followed by supporters on foot rather than on horseback.

In the UK, where the fox goes to ground, terriers may be entered into the earth to locate the fox so that it can be dug down to and killed, although since the ban on some fox hunting, the kill has been de-emphasised in some hunts. In the US, the object is not to kill the fox, and once the fox goes to ground, he is left alone.

Social rituals are important to hunts, although many have fallen into disuse. One of the most notable was the act of "blooding." This is a very old ceremony in which the master or huntsman would smear the blood of the fox or coyote onto the cheeks or forehead of a newly initiated hunt follower, often a young child. Another practice of some hunts was to cut off the tail ('brush'), the feet ('pads') and the head ('mask') as trophies, with the carcass then thrown to the dogs. Both of these practices were widely abandoned during the nineteenth century, although isolated cases may still have occurred to the modern day.

Autumn or cub hunting

In the autumn of each year, hunts take the young hounds out "cub hunting" or "autumn hunting" in order to cull young foxes bred during closed season and to teach the hound puppies to hunt. Foxhounds may not hunt at all, or may hunt mammals other than foxes by natural instinct, they have to be trained and encouraged to hunt foxes.

In Britain "cub hunting" consists of training the young hounds in hunting by firstly surrounding a covert, with riders and foot followers to drive back foxes attempting to escape, and then 'drawing' the covert with the puppies and some more experienced hounds, allowing them to find, attack and kill the young foxes within the surrounded wood. A young hound is considered to be 'entered' into the pack once he or she has successfully joined in a hunt in this fashion. Rarely, in about 1 in 50 cases foxhounds do not show suitable aptitude for their pack, and must be removed from the pack.

Main hunting season

Once the season proper starts (usually from early November in the northern hemisphere, or May in the southern hemisphere), the idea is to drive the fox from the covert and chase it for long distances over open countryside. The season continues through to April. Some hunts even go on into the start of May. Fox cubs are born between January and May, dependant on their geographical range, which means that pregnant and nursing vixens may be hunted.

American variations

In America, fox hunting is also called fox chasing because the purpose is not to actually kill the animal but to enjoy the thrill of the chase. The American fox population is well-controlled partly because of the prevalence of rabies so hunting is not needed to keep the species in check, whereas this disease is not present in Britain. The rare animal that is killed by an American hunt is usually old or unhealthy.

American hunts often end up chasing coyotes when the hounds pick up the scent. Many of the farmers and ranchers who allow fox hunting on their property do so because coyotes that have been chased by a pack of domestic dogs appear to learn to keep their distance from domestic animals in the future.

In the United States, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both kept packs of fox hounds before and after the American Revolutionary War. The last U.S. president to hunt was Ronald Reagan, and the last First Lady to do so was Jacqueline Kennedy.

Drag hunting

Drag hunting can also be popular, either instead of, or in addition to, live quarry hunting. Drag hunting involves dragging an object over the ground to lay a scent for the hounds to follow. Some drag hunts use a scented bag for this purpose, although the corpse of a fox of other animal can also be used, which is a technique claimed by some British hunts to hunt within the law.

Bloodhounds are used to hunt a human runner the sport of "Hunting the Clean Boot".

Drag hunting is disliked by some advocates of quarry hunting due to the trail being pre-determined, and therefore eliminating hazards present in the live quarry hunt and making it less exciting. Drag hunts also tend to be a lot faster than quarry hunts, as the dogs are given the scent to follow, rather than having to search for a quarry, or risk it going to ground.

Shooting foxes

In Australia, the term "Fox Hunting" is also used to refer to the hunting of foxes with firearms much the same as deer or rabbit (although Australia has mounted hunts with hounds). Introduced red foxes are a serious problem for farmers in Australia, having been introduced by huntsmen in the nineteenth and twentieth century for 'sporting' purposes. They are a serious conservation problem, and the expedient removal of foxes is a higher priority than the pomp and circumstance surrounding a traditional fox hunt as practised in the UK.

Typically, the hunter will either call foxes in with a fox whistle – sometimes to within 20m or so of the hunter – at which point they are then dispatched with a shotgun, or else hunt at night with a spotlight and a rifle, known as spotlighting (or – in the UK and Ireland – as 'lamping').

People

Hunt Staff and officials

A turn of the century Master who lived 1855-1912

As a social ritual, human participants in a fox hunt often fill specific roles, the most prominent of which is the master, often more than one and then called masters or joint masters. These individuals typically take much of the financial responsibility for the overall management of the sporting activities of the hunt and the care and breeding of the hunt's fox hounds, as well as control and direction of the its paid staff.

• Master of fox hounds (M.F.H.) or Joint Master of Fox Hounds operates the sporting activities of the hunt, maintains the kennels, works with (and sometimes is) the huntsman, and spends the money raised by the hunt club. (Often the master or joint masters are the largest of financial contributors to the hunt.) The master will have the final say over all matters in the field.
• Honorary secretaries are volunteers (usually one in America, two in the UK) who collect the cap (money) from guest riders.
• A kennelman looks after hounds in kennels, assuring that all tasks are completed when pack and staff return from hunting.
• The huntsman, often the same person as the kennelman, is responsible for directing the hounds in the course of the hunt. The Huntsmen usually carries a horn to communicate to the hounds, followers and whippers in.
• Whippers-in are assistants to the huntsman. Their main job is to keep the pack all together, especially to prevent the hounds from straying or 'riotting', which term refers to the hunting of animals other than the hunted fox. To help them to control the pack, they carry hunting whips and in America they may also carry .22 revolvers loaded with rat-shot or blanks. The role of "whipper-in" in hunts has inspired parliamentary systems (including the Westminster System and the U.S. Congress) to use "whip" for a member who enforces party discipline and ensure the attendance of other members at important votes.
• Terrier man - Most hunts where the object is to kill the fox will employ a terrier man, whose job it is to control the terriers which may be used underground to corner or flush the fox. Often voluntary terriermen will follow the hunt as well. In the UK, they often ride quadbikes with their terriers in boxes on their bikes.

In addition to members of the hunt staff, a committee may run the "Hunt Supporters Club" to organise fundraising and social events and in America many hunts are incorporated and have parallel lines of leadership.

Britain, Ireland and America have a Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA) which consists of current and past masters of foxhounds. This is the governing body for all foxhound packs and deals with disputes about boundaries between hunts.

Attire

Mounted hunt followers typically wear traditional hunting attire. A prominent feature of hunts operating during the formal hunt season (between late October and the end of March) is that hunt members wear 'colours'. This attire consists of the traditional scarlet coats only worn by huntsmen, masters, former masters, whippers-in (regardless of sex) and other hunt staff members, and are also known as Pinks or Pinques; the ladies generally wearing scarlet tabs on their black or dark navy coats. These help them stand out from the rest of the field. Various theories about the derivation of this term have been given, ranging from the colour of a weathered scarlet coat to the name of a purportedly famous tailor.

Some hunts, including most hare hunts, use green rather than red jackets. The colour of breeches (riding pants) vary from hunt to hunt and are generally of one colour, though two or three colours throughout the year may be permitted. Unlike the jacket, the colours of the breeches remains the same throughout the cubbing and formal seasons. Boots are generally English dress boots (no laces). For the men they are black with brown leather tops (called top boots), and for the ladies, black with a patent black leather top of similar proportion to the men. Additionally, the number of buttons is significant. The Master of the hunt wears a scarlet coat with four brass buttons while the huntsman and other professional staff wear five. Amateur Whippers-in also wear four buttons.

Another differentiation in dress between the amateur and professional staff is found in the ribbons at the back of the hunt cap. These ribbons were designed to deflect rain over the collar of the coat rather than allowing it to drip down the back of the neck. The professional staff wear their hat ribbons down, while amateur staff and members of the field wear their ribbons up. The traditional reason given for these differences is that the professional staff has no option but to remain out in inclement weather, whereas the amateur or field member may go home whenever they wish.

Those members who do not wear colours, tend to dress in a black hunt coat and unadorned black buttons for both men and ladies, with breeches the same as the other members. Boots are all English dress boots and have no other distinctive look. Some hunts also further restrict the wear of formal attire to weekends and holidays and use ratcatcher all other times.

Other members of the mounted field follow strict rules of clothing etiquette. For example, those under eighteen will wear tweed jackets or ratcatcher all season. Those over eighteen will wear ratcatcher during Autumn hunting from late August until the Opening Meet, normally around November 1. From the Opening Meet they will switch to regular hunting kit where full subscribers will wear scarlet and the rest black or navy. (In American hunts, only Masters, staff and gentlemen members with colours wear scarlet.) The highest honour is to be awarded the hunt button by the Hunt Master. This means you can then wear the hunt collar (colour varies from hunt to hunt) and buttons with the hunt crest on them. (In America male followers are awarded their "colours," which includes the right to wear a scarlet coat. Female followers are usually awarded "colours" which allow them to wear the collar of the hunt but also often a dark navy coat with brass buttons.)

Controversy

The nature of fox hunting, including the killing of the quarry animal and its strong associations with tradition and social class and its practice for sport have long made it a source of great controversy within the United Kingdom.

The Burns Inquiry analysed opposition to hunting in the UK. They reported that:

"There are those who have a moral objection to hunting and who are fundamentally opposed to the idea of people gaining pleasure from what they regard as the causing of unnecessary suffering. There are also those who perceive hunting as representing a divisive social class system. Others, as we note below, resent the hunt trespassing on their land, especially when they have been told they are not welcome. They worry about the welfare of the pets and animals and the difficulty of moving around the roads where they live on hunt days. Finally there are those who are concerned about damage to the countryside and other animals, particularly badgers and otters."

Anti-hunting activists who chose to take action in opposing fox hunting can do so through legal means such as campaigning for fox hunting legislation and monitoring hunts for cruelty or illegal activities. Some activists choose to engage in direct intervention such as the sabotage of the hunt. Hunt Sabotage is illegal in a majority of the United States, and tactics used (such as trespass and criminal damage) are illegal in other countries.

Fox hunting has been undertaken since the 1500s, and in this time, strong traditions have built up around the activity, as have businesses and rural activities and hierarchies. For this reason, there are still large numbers of people who support fox hunting, and this can be for a variety of reasons.

Pest control

Foxes are considered vermin by some farmers who fear they might lose valuable livestock, whilst others consider them an ally in controlling rabbits, voles and other rodents. A key reason for dislike of the fox by pastoral farmers is their tendency to kill a whole group of animals such as chickens, yet eat only one of them. Some anti-hunt campaigners maintain that provided it is not disturbed, the fox will remove all of the chickens it kills and conceal them in a safer place.

Opponents of fox hunting claim that the activity is not necessary for fox control, arguing that the fox is not a pest species and that hunting does not and cannot make a real difference to fox populations. They compare the number of foxes killed in the hunt to the many more killed on the roads. They also argue that wildlife management goals of the hunt can be met by other methods such as "lamping" (dazzling a fox with a bright light, then shooting it through the head or neck, depending on what calibre rifle is used) with trained shooters, capture or sterilisation.

Foxhunts claim to provide and maintain a good habitat for foxes and other game, and, in the U.S., have been leaders in fostering conservation legislation and putting land into conservation easements. Anti hunting campaigners cite the widespread existence of artificial earths, and the historic practice by hunts of introducing foxes, as indicating that hunts do not believe foxes to be pests.

It is also argued that hunting with dogs has the advantage of weeding out weaker animals because the strongest and healthiest foxes are those most likely to escape. Therefore, unlike other methods of controlling the fox population, it is argued that hunting with dogs does help keep the fox population healthy and, in this respect, that it resembles natural predation by wild animals. The counter argument is given that if it were it the case that fox hunting predominantly kills weak foxes, then it would leave alive those most able to predate on livestock, thereby demonstrating that the hunting was contrary to the principles of pest control. The pro-hunt lobby reject this and maintain that healthy foxes tend to catch woodland prey, such as rabbits, whilst sick or infirm foxes are more likely to target 'easy' options such as domesticated chickens.

In Australia, where foxes are a major ecological pest, the Government's Department of the Environment and Heritage concluded that "hunting does not seem to have had a significant or lasting impact on fox numbers." Instead, control of foxes relies heavily on shooting/spotlighting, poisoning and fencing.

Economics

The oldest economic defence of fox hunting is that such hunting is necessary to control the population of foxes, lest they prey upon domestic animals such as livestock, and thereby cause economic cost to the farmers. In the UK, apart from man, foxes have no larger predators to control them.

Another argument is that fox hunting is a significant economic activity in its own right, providing legal recreation and jobs for those involved in the hunt and supporting it. The Burns Inquiry identified that between 6,000 and 8,000 full time jobs depend on hunting in the UK alone. Estimates reported by The Guardian noted 8000 jobs depend on the hunt.

Supporters argue that such jobs should not be lost without sufficient cause, especially in rural areas with few job opportunities. Some opponents would argue that since the ban in the UK there has been no evidence of significant job losses, although with the state of the legislation, nearly all the hunts have continued to operate along limited lines, either trail hunting, or claiming to use exemptions in the legislation.

Animal welfare and animal rights

Many animal welfare activists believe that fox hunting is unfair and cruel to animals, most especially the fox. They argue that the chase itself causes fear and distress and that fox is not always killed instantly as hunters claim, but is torn to pieces by hounds.

Animal rights campaigners also object to fox hunting, on the grounds of a belief that animals should enjoy the same rights as humans (such as the right to life).

For Hunts in the United States and Canada to be officially recognised by the MFHA, pursuing the quarry for the sheer purpose of killing is strictly forbidden. According to article 2 “The sport of foxhunting as it is practised in North America places emphasis on the chase and not the kill. It is inevitable, however, that hounds will at times catch their game. Death is instantaneous. A pack of hounds will account for their quarry by running it to ground, treeing it, or bringing it to bay in some fashion. The Masters of Foxhounds Association has laid down detailed rules to govern the behaviour of Masters of Foxhounds and their packs of hounds.” There are times when a Fox or Coyote that is injured or sick caught by the pursuing hounds, but the occurrence of an actual kill of this is exceptionally rare.

Supporters of hunting maintain that when a fox is hunted with dogs, it is either killed relatively quickly (instantly or in a matter of seconds) or escapes uninjured. Similarly, they say that the animal rarely endures hours of torment and pursuit by hounds, and research by Oxford University shows that the fox is normally killed after only an average of 17 minutes of chase. They further argue that, while hunting with dogs may cause suffering, controlling fox numbers by other means is even more cruel. Depending on the skill of the shooter, the type of firearm used, the availability of good shooting positions and luck, shooting foxes can cause either an instant kill, or lengthy periods of agony for wounded animals which can die of the trauma within hours, or of secondary infection over a period of days or weeks. Research from wildlife hospitals indicates that it is not uncommon for foxes with shot wounds to survive.

Other methods include the use of snares, trapping and poisoning, all of which also cause considerable distress to the animals concerned, and may affect other species. This was considered in the Burns Enquiry (paras 6.60-11), whose tentative conclusion was that lamping using rifles, if carried out properly and in appropriate circumstances, had fewer adverse welfare implications than hunting. The committee believed that lamping was not possible without vehicular access, and hence said that the welfare of foxes in upland areas could be affected adversely by a ban on hunting with hounds, unless dogs could be used to flush foxes from cover (as is permitted in the Hunting Act 2004).

Hunt supporters further say that it is a matter of humanity to kill foxes rather than allow them to suffer malnourishment and mange.

Anti-hunting campaigners also criticise hunts who commonly put down their hounds after their working life has come to an end, which is usually only about half their lives (five or six years), and this was noted in the Burns Inquiry (p 6.79).

Sport

Some opponents of hunting criticise the fact that the animal suffering in fox hunting takes place for sport, citing either that this makes such suffering unnecessary and therefore cruel, or else that killing or causing suffering for sport is immoral. The Court of Appeal, in consdering the British Hunting Act determined that the legislative aim of the Hunting Act was "a composite one of preventing or reducing unnecessary suffering to wild mammals, overlaid by a moral viewpoint that causing suffering to animals for sport is unethical."

Civil liberties

It is argued by some hunt supporters that no law should curtail the right of a person to do as they wish, so long as it does not harm others. Philosopher Roger Scruton has said, "To criminalize this activity would be to introduce legislation as illiberal as the laws which once deprived Jews and Catholics of political rights, or the laws which outlawed homosexuality". In contrast, liberal philosopher, John Stuart Mill wrote, "The reasons for legal intervention in favour of children apply not less strongly to the case of those unfortunate slaves and victims of the most brutal parts of mankind - the lower animals."

The House of Lords has decided that a ban on hunting, in the form of the Hunting Act 2004, does not contravene the European Convention on Human Rights.

Trespass

In its submission to the Burns Inquiry, the League Against Cruel Sports presented evidence of over 1,000 cases of trespass by hunts. These included trespass on railway lines and into private gardens. Trespass can occur as the hounds themselves do not recognise boundaries they are not allowed to cross, and may therefore follow their quarry wherever it goes unless successfully called off. In countries such as the United Kingdom, trespass is a largely civil matter when performed accidentally.

Hunt saboteurs frequently trespass to monitor or disrupt the hunt, and this is referred to in their 'tactics' manuals, although many hunt monitors choose not to do so whilst they observe the hunts in progress. In the United Kingdom, attempts to disrupt hunts fall under the criminal offence of aggravated trespass, rather than being considered as civil trespass which the hunts may be guilty of.

Available alternatives

Anti hunting campaigners long urged hunts to retain their tradition and equestrian sport by drag hunting, following an artificial scent. The benefits and issues with this is discussed in the section above. Hunt supporters previously claimed that, in the event of a ban, hunts would not be able to convert and that hounds would have to be put down.

Tradition and social life

Many supporters of British fox hunting recognise it as a distinctive part of British culture generally, the basis of traditional crafts and a key part of social life in rural areas, an activity and spectacle enjoyed not only by the riders but also by others such as the "unmounted pack" which may follow along on foot, bicycle or 4x4.

They point out that the social aspects of hunting reflect the social make-up of the area it takes place in, that the Home Counties packs are very different from those in areas of North Wales and Cumbria where the hunts are very much the activity of farmers and the working class.

The Banwen Miners Hunt has been used as an example, founded in a small Welsh mining village, although its membership now is by no means limited to miners, with a "cosmopolitan" make up.

Class issues

Punch magazine's "Mr. Briggs" cartoons illustrated issues over fox hunting during the 1850s.

Oscar Wilde, in his 1893 play A Woman of No Importance, once famously referred to "the English country gentleman galloping after a fox" as "the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable." Even before the time of Wilde, much of the criticism of fox hunting has been couched in terms of social class. They argue that while more "working class" blood sports such as cock fighting and badger baiting were long ago outlawed, fox hunting persists, although this argument can be countered with the fact that hare coursing, a more 'working class' sport was outlawed simultaneously to fox hunting with hounds in the UK. Philosopher Roger Scruton believes that the analogy with cock fighting and badger baiting is unfair because these sports were more cruel and did not involve any element of pest control.

John Leech had a series of "Mr. Briggs" cartoons in Punch during the 1850's, which illustrated class issues. More recently the British anarchist group Class War has argued explicitly for disruption of fox hunts on class warfare grounds and even published a book "The Rich at Play" examining the subject. Other groups with similar aims, such as 'Revolutions per minute' have also published papers which disparage fox hunting on the basis of the social class of its participants.

Polls in the UK have shown that the UK public equally divided as to whether or not hunt objectors hold their views based primarily on class grounds. Some people point to evidence of class bias in the voting patterns in the British House of Commons during voting on the hunting bill 2000-2001, with traditionally working class Labour forcing legislation through against the votes of normally middle and upper class Conservative members.

Regulation

Main article: Fox hunting legislation

Like most hunting, fox hunting is regulated in many countries, with great variation from one to another. In general, hunting laws are designed to regulate what animals may be hunted, in what areas at what time and with what techniques. The Burns Inquiry reported that fox hunting was "not practised or is largely banned" in Spain, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway. The Hunting Act 2004 banned (amongst other things) fox hunting with dogs in England and Wales. Scotland has passed similar legislation.

After the ban on fox hunting, hunts say that they follow artificially laid trails, although the League Against Cruel Sports has alleged widespread law breaking. Supporters of fox hunting claim that the number of foxes killed by dogs has increased since the ban, that hunts have reported an increase in membership, and that around 320,000 people (their highest recorded number) turned up to fox hunts on Boxing Day, 2006.

In popular culture

Fox hunting has inspired artists in several fields to create works which involve the sport. The most famous usage is in the Daniel P Mannix 1967 novel titled "The Fox and the Hound" which follows a story of a fox called Tod and a hound called Copper, which was subsequently used by Walt Disney Pictures to create the animated feature length film "The Fox and the Hound" in 1981, in which Tod and Copper befriend each other. Unlike the novel, however, the film carries a happy ending. Other children's books, conveying a pro-fox and anti-hunting message, include The Animals of Farthing Wood, and Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox.

There have also been several musical artists who have used fox hunting, with both Ray Noble and George Formby recording "Tan Tan Tivvy Tally Ho!", a comic song about fox hunting, in 1932 and 1938 respectively. More recently Dizzee Rascal used the concept of a fox-hunt for his video of "Sirens", showing a stylised urban hunt.

See also

• Beagling
• Deer hunting
• Hare coursing
• Wolf hunting

External links

• News reports
  • BBC News In Depth - The Hunting Debate
  • Guardian Unlimited - Special Report: Hunting
  • Newshound
  • BBC Report on an allegation of a worsened situation for foxes as a result of the ban (Click next to image of horse on the right)
• Hunting and pro-hunting organisations
  • Masters of Foxhounds Association (UK)
  • Masters of Foxhounds Association of America (USA and Canada)
  • Union of Country Sports Workers (UK)
  • Countryside Alliance - Campaign for Hunting (UK)
  • Foxman on Foxhunting (UK)
  • Hunting for Tolerance (UK)
  • Matt Simpson's Foxhunting Pages (US)
  • Support Hunting Association (UK)
  • The Parliamentary Middle Way Group (UK)
  • Veterinary Association for Wildlife Management
  • World Hunting Association ( WHA)
  • Horse & Hound magazine (UK)
• Anti-hunting organisations
  • League Against Cruel Sports - Hunting with Dogs (UK)
  • N.Ireland Hunt Saboteurs (UK)
  • RSPCA - Ban Hunting (UK)
• Governmental and other organisations
  • "The Burns Inquiry" - The Committee of Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs in England and Wales (UK Government enquiry), 2000.
  • The report of the Burns Inquiry
  • Progress of the Hunting Bill through Parliament in 2004 (Houses of Parliament Bill Index Database - Links to Hansard
• Directories
  • Open Directory Project - Fox Hunting
  • Yahoo! - Hound Hunting
• References
  • Carr, Sir Raymond, English Fox Hunting: A History (Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1976, 2nd edition 1986) ISBN 978-0297770749
  • JNP Watson, The Book of Foxhunting (Batsford, 1977) ISBN 0-7134-0807-3
  • The Hunt for Mercy - A study of the English hunting ban by Jay Surdukowski
  • House of Lords speech by Lord Burns, chairman of the official Inquiry, explaining his position against a ban on October 12 2004
  • Horse Country - The Legend of Tailor Pink
  • Guardian Unlimited - Special Report: Hunting
  • BBC News - In Depth 2002: Hunting with Dogs Debate
  • CBBC - Fox Hunting (information aimed at children)

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