Would you want u-turn on hunting ban?

[Normal Rob]

yep.

and no.

i keep a little small holding (32 lambs lost this year from apprx 120 born so far to foxes or the yeti if you believe the lacs, and we have hens as well that they like to chow down on, it's nature i know, but i like my lamb dead on my table and my chicken roasted and not chewed apart, uneaten across my yard) and if i can flush foxes off of our land - either with a bird, horses or terriers etc. then i will. i would always shoot the thing at point blank range first but it doesn't always work out that way.

You sir, are a fine example of why the ban is so very wrong.

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

It's all bollocks. Hunting is cruel, there are plently of other (humain) ways to kill foxes. Instead of ripping them to shreads with a ton of hounds.

It really does boil down to the fact that the middle class country folk see it as "a way of life" and love branding it as something us townies don't understand.

It's an excuse to sip sherry and have a blast on a horse... so why don't the just do it with a shotgun each rather than 50 dogs??

 

[Franks Wild Years]

Utter rubbish to say its 'townies who don't understand country issues" I'm not North Korean but I have view on their atomic programme. I'm not an MP but I have view on their expences etc etc.
It's a sport and nothing else, and it's incredibly cruel, thats why its banned.
Nothing to do with class, it's just cruel.
All this fight prejudice stuff is pathetic. It's called democracy,

 

[Man of Harveys]

To suggest they don't enjoy it (clue: they call it a SPORT) is ridiculous.

They hardly go out like dead eyed, cold hearted killers, silently mourning every time they take a fox down, do they?

Don't kid yourself, they LOVE it.

Exactly. I'd have a great deal more respect for them if they were ever brave enough to admit that.

 

[drew]

banning hunting was a poorly thought through vote winner to please the myopic viewpoint of city folk who understand nothing about rural issues yet feel thay they should be able to exert an influence over them. It should be reversed with immediate effect.

I don't live in the city and I would vote for the retention of the law. I suppose you would vote for inhumane slaughter of livestock, regardless of the animal as long as it saves the farmer a buck or two.

As someone else has already said, it's democracy at work. If we relied on you country folk to run the country then there would never be anything other than a tory government. You'd all be voting for your local landowner (and head of the hunt). We wouldn't have any labour laws, welfare state, pensions, health service. The Tolpuddle Martyrs would still be in Australia and the army would probably still march into battle behind a drummer and wearing bright scarlet!!

Just to remind you, this is now the 21st Century.

 

[Billy the Fish]

Out of interest, for the people who are citing animal cruelty as a reason not to do it, where do you all stand on the issue of halal meat?
I'd imagine that that form of cruelty is far more widespread than a few foxes who get killed by the hunts

 

[Tooting Gull]

Utter rubbish to say its 'townies who don't understand country issues" I'm not North Korean but I have view on their atomic programme. I'm not an MP but I have view on their expences etc etc.
It's a sport and nothing else, and it's incredibly cruel, thats why its banned.
Nothing to do with class, it's just cruel.
All this fight prejudice stuff is pathetic. It's called democracy,

I do agree with you on most stuff - just not this one. It was 'townies who don't understand the issues'. Many people who live in the country have about as much love for those vermin as we do for MPs currently. Foxes are pests who can and do raid farms/gardens and kill livestock, chickens etc. Which they do by ripping their throats, generally.

The life of a fox is worth very little to such country folk, and certainly much less than it appears to do to some right-on urban types who have no experience of any of it. It definitely smacked of some sort of inverted class snobbery.

I never went foxhunting and have nothing in common with those who did/still do, but I'm sure there are things I like that I wouldn't like stopped or banned because it offended someone else's sensibilities. What about films?

 

[drew]

Out of interest, for the people who are citing animal cruelty as a reason not to do it, where do you all stand on the issue of halal meat?
I'd imagine that that form of cruelty is far more widespread than a few foxes who get killed by the hunts

Good point. Personally, I don't believe religious beliefs should put you outside the law so I am against Halal meat and any other sacrificial killing.

By the way, I am not vegetarian before anyone gets on their high horse (apart from huntsmen who obviously had to shoot their horses!!!)

 

[beorhthelm]

i was against the ban, not so much because is was "for" fox hunting but rather against the amount of time it took up when more pressing issues needed addressing. foxes are safe, but child poverty continues. It also went too far, prohibiting farmers or hunters to go out with a dog to cull wildlife, ignored the many practical husbadry issues around the fox hunt. no matter what was said, there was a huge dose of ignorance on the part of most town dwellers (probably lot of country folk found out more) and more than a little bit of anti-toff.

like the point above about halal, im sure theres plenty more hypocracy on the issue.

 

[NF9]

Im no expert on Fox hunting but here are some stats

Foxes killed: 20,000

Humans killed (in accidents): 3

Pups and hounds killed: 6,000

Veterinary fees for horses: £15 million

Injuries to hounds: 1,000

Injuries to those on foot (including sabs): 500

Total blood spilled: 1 ton plus

Policing costs (paid by taxpayers): Over £1 million.



Foxes are highly adaptable and live mostly on earthworms, rodents, rabbits and carrion. For this reason foxes are of positive benefit to most farmers.

Foxes are expert scavengers which is why they have been so effective in establishing urban fox populations. Foxes will prey on ground nesting birds but rarely on lambs.

Post-mortem evidence has demonstrated that lambs taken by foxes are likely to be either already dead or weak, non viable lambs.

According to MAFF, predation of foxes on lambs is nationally 'insignificant'. Studies show that lamb losses are between 10% and 24% from hypothermia, malnutrition or disease, but even sheep farmers only claim that only 0.5% are due to foxes.

 

[pork pie]

Absolutely spot on. I dont know how anyone can argue against any of that.

Bollox! What do you lot know about it? How many of you have even seen a hunt?

Foxes are themselves cruel. They kill animals for the sake of it, not just for food. Given half a chance, they will kill all the hens in a pen, and maybe eat one or two. They NEED to be controlled, and hunting gives people a great deal of pleasure and generates jobs.

 

[pork pie]

I
Policing costs (paid by taxpayers): Over £1 million.

And if there were no crusties protesting they would be zero!

 

[Deano's Invisible Pants]

If we relied on you country folk to run the country then there would never be anything other than a tory government.

If we relied on the votes of English people, there would only very rarely be anything other than a Tory government.

 

[pork pie]

If we relied on the votes of English people, there would only very rarely be anything other than a Tory government.

That just goes to show that devolution is a good thing, and should be extended to only English MPs being allowed to vote on English matters. Fat chance because the Labour party know they would never stay in power that way, or even get half their votes through.

 

[NF9]

Bollox! What do you lot know about it? How many of you have even seen a hunt?

Foxes are themselves cruel. They kill animals for the sake of it, not just for food. Given half a chance, they will kill all the hens in a pen, and maybe eat one or two. They NEED to be controlled, and hunting gives people a great deal of pleasure and generates jobs.

Foxers themselves are cruel?
They are Animals, they hunt other animals, and if you dont believe that its cruel answer this..

Foxhounds are bred to run more slowly than the fox to sustain a good chase. The fox will outrun the hounds initially until it is exhausted and overtaken by the hounds.



Many foxes escape by hiding in fox earths or badger setts and will be dealt with by the terrier men.



Hounds do not kill foxes instantly with a 'nip to the back of the neck'. Canids do not kill in this way but rather tend to bring down their prey by a series of bites and tears to their quarry. The League has obtained post-mortem evidence from veterinary surgeons to support that this is how foxes recovered by League monitors have died.

Its really cruel and you know it.

 

[Deano's Invisible Pants]

This argument ends very simply;

Killing for fun IS wrong.

It's that basic.

Sorry, but while I understand why some people may think the moral argument is this basic, there has to be more than just a moral argument to warrant introducing a new law. Another important consideration, for example, includes the enforceability of the new legislation.

The fact is we have far too many ill-thought out laws that have been bull-dozered through Parliament by a populist, overmighty Executive. Others include the Dangerous Dog Act and the legislation that followed the Taylor Report.

Come off it kids, if every time the majority deems something to be immoral we introduce a new law, we would end up living in an incredibly illiberal country, governed in the main by poorly constructed legislation. The current Labour Government is one of the worst in history for badly enacted laws. The good news is that it will be gone very soon.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Well done for your honesty, but this is the crux of the issue, isn't it? Most hunting opponents will deny it, but what they hate more than anything else is their perception that hunting is a predominently upper class activity. But should this sort of vindictiveness be the basis for any legislation?

I think you are spot on there. Whilst, obviously, much of the anti-fox hunting will be made up of people that perceive it to be cruel, it does smack of 'let's ruin the sundays of the chinless wonders'.

That sort of sentiment is almost as cringeworthy as those who, STILL, refer to football as a working class mans game. Apparently Hull are a proper working class club, according to a poster, I forget who it was, despite replying. How?

 

[Leekbrookgull]

Heard it all,look i live in rural Leek,this morning 2 ducks 'necked' by a fox. They NEED to be controlled.

 

[Leekbrookgull]

In my garden

 

[Leekbrookgull]

wacky racer,hit the nail.