Noooo, not in a witch hunt way (bad choice of term?). I genuinely want to know the reasons for someone saying they ''LOVE'' to hunt.

He did it of his own accord? he's a RABBIT! My word that just HAS to be the best you have come out with for a while it really does! Does "responsible pet ownership" mean anything to you?

Well I think that they do, their body language says that they do, they binky, and they are very friendly and love people, but thats what I would expect from a pair of English, they go to people's gardens and play in there, but actually given a choice both went inside, Nancy was born outside, I don't know where Drew was born, but when we went to a house with a garden with the front door open they both chose to be inside and even worse, on the sofa having cuddles what poor poor creatures, and before you go and say thats what they are use to, they use to go their regulary, but still preffered indoors with their toys, and binky a whole lot more inside, so P-u-u-r-l-e-e-s-e back to you. At least I know where mine are, and they are well cared for, I wouldn't be surprised if your rabbit never came back because he was killed because of your want for him to have a 'natural' life, and he would of lived a longer, happy life in a more safe enviroment, but thats not good enough for you is it?

Now, I thought this was about the law on hunting with dogs. Meaning humans making the decision to use dogs to do killing for them by deliberately manipulating the dogs natural survival/hunting/killing instinct?

Still a cat fight can be quite entertaining.

Gnasher if you wanted your rabbit to live as nature intended you would have constructed a burrow and provided other rabbits for company. To allow a vulnerable domesticated rabbit to roam around a village in a totally un-natural manner, is simply you living in cloud cuckoo land about what a rabbit needs to be happy and survive. I agree with Chaz that the reason it did not return to it's tree house was probably because it met an unpleasant and premature death as a consequence of your actions

... 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.

Hal we had as a puppy, Tai we had as a rescue at 5.

Hal was a Sibe x Mal x wolf, Tai is a Sibe x Mal - if you google both Sibe and Mal, you will see that both breeds have a very high prey drive. Sibes in particular are notorious for not getting on at all well with cats ... personally, although I have always taken breed into consideration, I think you can train your dog pretty much to do, or not do, anything you want him, or not want him to do. Tai chases sheep, very bad, very naughty and I have trained him not to do so. Not that I would trust him totally, whenever we are near to or around sheep, he is kept firmly on the lead. He will chase chickens too, also very naughty. I can walk him past squawking chickens, running around like the stupid creatures they are, off lead and keep him to heel, under control. However, sometimes the chickens have escaped from our neighbour's garden into the field, and hide under the hedge. We don't know they are, but Tai does, so we do have to be "on chicken alert" when walking past our neighbour's garden just in case the chickens have escaped out onto the set-aside.

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.

so do i...

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??