... so a fox getting chased, terrified and then killed makes for more fun and excitement than a drag hunt with a pre-determined route, with no murder at the end of it... wow, i know which i would choose.

Gnasher, i am extremely confused about what side you stand on... are you pro or anti fox hunting??

... so a fox getting chased, terrified and then killed makes for more fun and excitement than a drag hunt with a pre-determined route, with no murder at the end of it... wow, i know which i would choose.

You ask "why is it so different for a rabbit to be killed this way?" by Tai? Well, for starters rabbits are herbivores, and as such as the natural prey of wolves and therefore dogs. It is as natural for a dog to chase a rabbit, as it is for a cat to hunt birds, or seals to hunt fish. Maybe I should stop Tai chasing rabbits, because every now and then ... thankfully quite rarely ... he catches one. But I actually choose not to. There is a huge abundance of rabbits around us at the moment, and frankly they are a dang nuisance. They are not an indigenous species to the UK, but were introduced by the Romans. The fox and the badger ARE indigenous species. And the fox is NOT a prey animal, therefore it should not be torn apart by fox hounds for the reasons I have already stated ... although I consider that to be a preferable death to that of being poorly shot.

Ill tell you pidge, wont make it up, wont tell you lies. I love hunting. My mother hated it, father isnt bothered. When I was young I expressed an interest, my parents got me in touch with hunts to find out about it, no propaganda, no making things up. I went to meets, I enjoyed the atmosphere, the Horses, the Hounds and the general friendliness I was shown.

I havent ridden a Horse in many years, I follow on foot. Ive never ever seen a Fox caught by the Hounds, nor do I express a wish to do so, not many of the followers ever do. I love the chase, I love the pack, I love the hunt. I am satisfied that the Fox will be caught and killed almost instantly, if not it will be UNHARMED. If it goes to ground, it depends of the Farmers wishes as to whether its dug out and shot.

Ive seen Foxes mangled in snares, riddled with mange, hit by cars, shot but not killed, all of these leave the animal a long suffering death Id never wish on anything. Hunting is kill instantly or run free and unharmed.

Its not about the pink coats, thats just traditional wear, nobody moans about the Beefeaters, guards or the Queen in all her "traditional" wear do they? Thats all it is, a "uniform" nothing more, and of course there are no rules stating you have to wear it.

Its legal to shoot a Fox, and miss, and leave it to suffer for days if you cant find it. Its legal to snare a fox and for it to chew its leg off in a desperate attempt to escape, then die days later of massive infection and blood poisoning. Its legal for you to gas a Fox hole, and HOPE thats who is at home, they will suffer too, long extended periods of suffering before they finally die, along with anything else that may be there. Its also legal for you to poison the Fox, assuming of course thats who gets the poison, look how many dogs are poisoned, you can bet most of that was left for Foxes, but who is to tell the dog that?

So for me, hunting, is the safest and quickest method to reduce Fox numbers on land where Farmers want the numbers reduced. Supporting farmers and the countryside, keeping the Foxes in the Countryside healthy, not like the mange ridden things in towns, skeletal some of them and in obvious poor health.

Hope that helps a little.

so the main reason you like fox hunting is for population control?? are there really no alternatives to you, that are better than a poor fox getting ripped to pieces! and for people to think that is an ok way to die astounds me! if that was a dog who got attacked by other dogs and killed, would you think the same thing??

and even if the fox gets away, what about the terror they go through getting chased? is it seriously ok to do that to an animal? any animal?? or just a select few you dont like?

and the debate about killing the old, sick and injured foxes and saving them from suffering is so ridiculous and i would put a lot of money on that not being the reason for the majority of hunts, its because sick people get a kick out of watching a defensless animal die a horrific death!

Ill tell you pidge, wont make it up, wont tell you lies. I love hunting. My mother hated it, father isnt bothered. When I was young I expressed an interest, my parents got me in touch with hunts to find out about it, no propaganda, no making things up. I went to meets, I enjoyed the atmosphere, the Horses, the Hounds and the general friendliness I was shown.

I havent ridden a Horse in many years, I follow on foot. Ive never ever seen a Fox caught by the Hounds, nor do I express a wish to do so, not many of the followers ever do. I love the chase, I love the pack, I love the hunt. I am satisfied that the Fox will be caught and killed almost instantly, if not it will be UNHARMED. If it goes to ground, it depends of the Farmers wishes as to whether its dug out and shot.

Ive seen Foxes mangled in snares, riddled with mange, hit by cars, shot but not killed, all of these leave the animal a long suffering death Id never wish on anything. Hunting is kill instantly or run free and unharmed.

Its not about the pink coats, thats just traditional wear, nobody moans about the Beefeaters, guards or the Queen in all her "traditional" wear do they? Thats all it is, a "uniform" nothing more, and of course there are no rules stating you have to wear it.

Its legal to shoot a Fox, and miss, and leave it to suffer for days if you cant find it. Its legal to snare a fox and for it to chew its leg off in a desperate attempt to escape, then die days later of massive infection and blood poisoning. Its legal for you to gas a Fox hole, and HOPE thats who is at home, they will suffer too, long extended periods of suffering before they finally die, along with anything else that may be there. Its also legal for you to poison the Fox, assuming of course thats who gets the poison, look how many dogs are poisoned, you can bet most of that was left for Foxes, but who is to tell the dog that?

So for me, hunting, is the safest and quickest method to reduce Fox numbers on land where Farmers want the numbers reduced. Supporting farmers and the countryside, keeping the Foxes in the Countryside healthy, not like the mange ridden things in towns, skeletal some of them and in obvious poor health.

Hope that helps a little.

Gnasher, i am extremely confused about what side you stand on... are you pro or anti fox hunting??

That is not what I said. I said having a random route on a live hunt which can involve any number of very challenging jumps and ditches is more exciting than a pre-determined route in a drag hunt. I made no mention of killing and murder because my point was, that often doesn't even feature in a day's hunting, in my experience. The thrill for us was a day of galloping randomly around land we would not normally have access to, and jumping fences and hedges you would not normally even consider as being within your range.

Excellent post Dawn, very well explained.

It is a terrible thing that farmers THINK that foxes need to be killed, but I totally agree that if the murder of these beautiful animals is to continue, I would prefer to see them hunted than shot.

My argument is that foxes are NOT vermin and do not need to be culled. Neither do badgers.