Just a question...
What would happen if you had small dogs, pups or a cat on land were the hunt goes through and they were seen by the pack????

Runs.......hides....

Dont know, like I said its not up to me to police them.

You didnt say that but you said plenty other stuff that was rude and unecessary.
Like "bunch of hooligans" Im sorry I am NOT a hooigan. and comments like "dressed up like ruddy clowns" totally uncalled for. Its not worth arguing the toss, I will continue following the Hounds as often as I am able, I love it.

Hi Doggie hugger!
There have been a VERY small number of occasions where a Cat or perhaps a dog have been caught. in the case of the dogs, the Hound would of been PTS as this would not be tolerated, Cats would be different. Its worth remembering that 50 odd Hounds can run as a pack through Sheep etc.. without incident, when you think about many pets that cant be loose anywhere near livestocK!

Hounds are very dog friendly at all the meets there are loads of Dogs, all shapes and sizes.

IMO they are a bunch of hooligans and do look rather silly in the get up. Hell I get called a lot worse being a football 'hooligan' myself.

Strange only 3 years ago we were walking out of holiday cottage with my lot when the hunt came through the yard only to betold to get them bloody dogs in they will be ripped apart! OK Tara is rather foxy looking but cant say the same for the rest of them.

On a side note Last year we were rather worried as there were report on the radio for people to watch out for badger baiters and to watch out for people in white vans with lurchers and terriers hardly dared go out

Doggie hugger...

That would be a big concern for me if I was a bumkin and I had small dogs , but than again they might need to go to specsavers if they mistook my boy for a fox!

Seriously though if you didnt agree with it, could you not allow the hunt on your land? or how does that work?

I dont agree with it, but thats just my opinion and choice, at the end of the day everyone is entilteld to there own opinion..for and against.
I honestly dont think anyone is gona get swayed on this and the reason it has got abit heated is because everyone has strong views on it.
But were all adults and sometimes we have to agree to disagree...we can never always understand everyones views, or and agree with them.
But we should try and respect the fact that everyone has a right to one!!

In my own experience, it was very rare that the hunt would hunt on public rights of way, they mostly hunted on farmer's land where of course they had permission. Some of them would set off from public land, bridleways, beauty spots, etc. but it wouldn't be long before they were on private land out of the way of joe public. One of the meets was actually on my village green where lots of peops walk their dogs, but have to say, the hounds of my local two hunts would always be well under control and ignore other dogs, and of course, once they'd set off, they were only interested in the scent of the fox, never much else.

Another thing I didn't like about the people who went hunting, was the fact that most of them had horses that were just FOR hunting, kept up to fitness, sometimes more than one horse so they could change half way through to last the day, and imo didn't care as much about their horse's welfare as the likes of say a normal horse owner/lover like myself. To give you an instance, the very first time I went hunting with a friend of mine who was a fully paid up member of the hunt (i.e. she went hunting twice a week), I arrived with my horses legs fully protected with proper leather brushing boots, which were for his protection against brambles, tendon strains, etc. etc. These were things that you probably wouldn't put on your horse for a stroll around the block, but they were an imperative part of a horse's equipment for competing or a fast hack out across country, so to ME, it was vital that he had them on for a hunt, where we would be careering through places rife with obstacles/dangers because we would not be sticking to public bridleways which were safe and maintained, no, we were on private land, sometimes going through thick hazelgroves where you almost lost your knees if your horse didn't have eyes that could see behind him, and jumping everything in sight too, even METAL 5 bar gates at one time, which of course I just wouldn't do, but SOME of them did!!!! Anyways, back to those boots, my friend kind of "laughed" at me for putting them on, and when I asked her why nobody, but nobody out of a field of say 50 riders had them, she replied "oh, it's only more washing, nobody bothers"!!!! So they're hardly going to worry about killing a fox are they????

ON another occassion which I remember very well indeed, it was actually in an area that I knew very well, having ridden it most days, and at one particular place, there is a very narrow track full of big, sharp flints, and very, very slippery at the top, which was also very steep, almost on a par with say a 1 in 4 (that's steep!) and when riding down it alone, you would ONLY attempt it at a very slow, doddery walk on your horse, because it was likely he would lose his footing. We came across that track, at full pelt, I was in the middle of the field, I couldn't hang back, and we rode it at a very fast canter, almost a gallop, all the way down!!!!! and proceeded to canter along another long flinty rough track at the bottom following the hounds!! I also jumped a post and rail fence with BARBED WIRE across the top, which the farmer had supposedly pulled back, but it hadn't stayed there, it had gone back along the top fenceline, but luckily my horse was clever (plus he had his boots on!!!) and quite honestly, I would have caused havoc had I stopped in disgust at the meer sight of it, although I did hesitate when I saw it, although nobody else did!

This is just a little insight into the sheer frenzy of the whole thrill of that chase, that's all it is, nobody in their right minds would treat their horses the way you do out on a hunt, and as I said before, I'm ashamed to say I was part of it but only for a very small number of times until I came to my senses!!! I was a darn good rider though after doing all that!!!!

Slightly off topic, and you can reserve your right not to reply, but just out of interest are most pro-hunters against snaring, gassing, lamping etc?

If so, iIs that because it has taken the place of hunting (to a small extent - although I believe all these methods were still going on alongside hunting), or is it because there is prolonged suffering to the fox?

Foxes are not classed as vermin in the same way as rats (they do not carry any threat to human health) ..

As I said in a previous thread ..

Vermin definition ...

1. Various small animals or insects, such as rats or cockroaches, that are destructive, annoying, or injurious to health.
2. Animals that prey on game, such as foxes or weasels.


Therefore foxes are classed as vermin because they prey on game.

I think anyone who has followed the ban would agree with those reports, that more foxes are being killed now than when hunting was legal So whilst I can't agree to packs of hounds chasing and killing foxes, I find snaring and gassing even more distasteful.