I thought fox hunting was made illegal during Blair's time. Which tory brought it back?
Posh Tony let the Countryside Alliance (thugs) off.
https://www.gov.uk/hunting/mammals
It’s illegal to hunt foxes with a pack of dogs. You can use dogs to simulate hunting, for example ‘drag’ or ‘trail’ hunting.
You can use up to 2 dogs to chase (‘flush’ or ‘stalk’) foxes out of hiding if the fox is causing damage to your property or the environment.
Your dogs can’t go underground to find the foxes unless they’re threatening wild or game birds kept for shooting - only one dog can go underground at any time.
You must:
shoot the fox quickly after it’s been found
carry proof you own the land you’re shooting on or written permission from the landowner
I see. Strictly speaking a fox hunt is illegal. But you can dress up like a fox hunter with dogs as long as you don't hunt a fox. If you come across a fox you can only kill it if it has been naughty. And only one of your dogs is allowed to chase it (but not catch it). Then the fox must be shot. And this all has to be observed and recorded by a local policeman. Ideally if he's the master of hounds.
Was this all necessary to stop the Countryside Alliance from blockading our rural roads, in a style not dissimilar to that of Insulate Britain protesters? Albeit back then with the full support of the Mail, Express and Boris?
Politics is the art of the possible and the nation was not in the mood in the 90s to tell honest country folk what to do. So it seems....I suspect the tide continues to turn. . . . .
Back in the days when I was a testosterone fuelled teenager I met a number of [MENTION=21158]Weststander[/MENTION]s 'countryside thugs', I found that even when you were morally. legally and physically abled to prove what was 'right', when you were up against the Duke of Beaufort and Princess Anne the local police would only go one way.
It may have been one of the many reasons I took a step back, a deep breath and realised there may be many ways of trying to achieve what is morally right. And, apparently 40 odd years later, we got there on this one
Genuine question: Whilst I have no time, sympathy or anything in common with people who hunt, allowing them to ride through the countryside dressed up on their horses chasing trails and not killing foxes seems like a good compromise. Why is it impossible to police this? Why can't they just prosecute the people who are using it as a smokescreen for hunting?
I’ve had diplomatic (both parties) debates with folk from places like Crowborough, who have zero interest themselves in stuff like hare coarsing, fox hunting or badger baiting, but who unmovingly believe all should be legal.
The only two reasons I ever heard, were:
1. Controlling excess numbers; and
2. You townies should keep your nose out of rural matters.
Fck off. My current home address has no bearing on my passion for wildlife. If animals definitely need culling, fine, but do it legally, humanely, under some sort of supervision.
Scummers with blood lust are sick f@ckers.
Because the law was written up with a lot of grey areas. It should have just banned hunting with dogs in it’s entirety, instead it left a huge amount of wriggle room for the perverts to keep using hounds to tear other creatures to pieces.
If hunting was a working class sport, like Cock fighting, badger baiting, and dog fighting it would have been banned at the same time they were.
I remember that one of the arguments (excuses) put forward for keeping fox hunting was the fact that the hunts would have to have all their hounds put down as they would be impossible to re-home. ... oh, and that that would be cruel to the dogs !
I remember that one of the arguments (excuses) put forward for keeping fox hunting was the fact that the hunts would have to have all their hounds put down as they would be impossible to re-home. ... oh, and that that would be cruel to the dogs !
I remember that one of the arguments (excuses) put forward for keeping fox hunting was the fact that the hunts would have to have all their hounds put down as they would be impossible to re-home. ... oh, and that that would be cruel to the dogs !