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Below is a tribute to a fox couple who were pointlessly murdered by a hunter.
Fox hunting was once a "tradition" but nowadays society would condemn the sport; seen as lowly and pointlessly ruthless. Actually, it has been condemned in a lot of other countries, and has been recently banned in England and Wales.
Fox hunting isn't actually hunting at all. It's best considered a barbaric bloodsport much like dog fighting, bear baiting, cock fighting, etc...
You can't really call it a "sport" either. Unless you regard sport as a contest between equal adversaries, then using 40-60 dogs (specially trained to savage foxes) together with 40 - 80 horses to chase and frighten the life out of one fox is neither fair nor humane. Add to that the terrier men who dig out foxes that have gone to earth. A further part of the pantomime, now officially banned, is the ceremony of 'blooding', in which new hunters (some quite young children) at their first kill are smeared with the fox's blood. It gives a clear picture of a ritualistic slaughter reminiscent of feudal times, and all this run by characters dressed up in Christmas card costumes.
A lot of people would rather call it a barbaric amusement not a sport.
Unfortunately, the fox gets a bad rep like that of the coyotes and wolves. Nowadays that rep has been polished up and people are educating themselves on what these animals truly are. They are not pests (although that is a common misconception) and actually clean the enviornment by killing mainly rodents. Without them, it would be chaos.
It is popularly thought of that farm owners hate foxes because they try to kill their poultry. This could easily be resolved with secured caged pens or having a dog chained up near the house (their territorial scent could drive them away). A lot of foxes get blamed for the work of other animals because they're scavengers, but if you allow your chickens to roam freely, you gotta expect something to come by to grab a meal. People need to start looking for a long term, humane alternative, because fox hunting has never helped and never will; the red fox population hasn't decreased or increased in over the last 30 years.
But more farmers ACTUALLY prefer to have foxes around. It is reported that only 0.4% of lambs already sick or dead have been eaten by them, and even the chickens they manage to catch aren't enough to consider these animals as pests, or overpopulated. They never have been for foxes control their own population like every other predator. If there is an abundance of food, then they will have more in their litter; if not, there will be less foxes in the surrounding area.
However, fox hunters try to use every excuse there is to justify their cruel bloodsport (but that's just like with any other including dog fighting which also continues to go on in other countries). Every excuse they give, however, can be answered and countered with evidence and facts.
They try to say that they want to control the population. Fact: torturing and killing them this way only takes down 2% of the fox population. And if that was the case, a lot of fox hunters wouldn't make fake earths, and sometimes illegally keep foxes around just so they can chase them, and rip the unluckier ones apart while they are still screaming. Also, the dogs wouldn't be bred for stamina, rather than speed.
"It's just a quick nip to the neck." Fox hunters try to insist that foxes don't feel any of the pain when actually they do. They are slowly ripped apart, usually from their stomachs and sometimes have no bite marks to their neck at all. Even before the hounds maul them to death, they are chased to exhaustion and those that do get away often have serious problems from the stress which could result in kidney failure.
In the UK, however (before the ban), when a fox "escapes" and goes into an earth or somewhere simular, they are dug out or force a terrier to go after them (where the dog ALWAYS sustains a bad injury from a out-of-view battle locked between the cowering fox and the terrier). Then the animals are either shot, or thrown while ALIVE to the hounds.
"The only foxes caught are usually sick, lame, old...etc.." This isn't a justifyable excuse either (especially since they get dug out at times too). If it has a cold, so they say it's okay to kill it? Where are the bragging rights in chasing down an even MORE helpeless animal that's sick or too old to run as fast? And that isn't even the case sometimes, perfectly healthy ones die as well. Regardless, even a healthy fox chased will be doomed to problems from the stress of the chase, so there is no excuse.
What fox hunters try to keep from you: cubs, the baby foxes, are used as "target practice" for the younger hounds to teach them to thirst for blood. They kill baby foxes in this "cub hunting" activity which is cruel and senseless and needs to be stopped. They are killed in the same manner as their parents, only some can only crawl for their life, rather than having the power to outrun them at all. This brought such bad attention to the hunters, that they made an effort to change the name "cub hunting" to "autumn hunting." But they failed to change the act its self.
Foxes aren't the only victims here, either. Hounds are never given any real individual attention and are KILLED after only 4 to 5 years old. That's because they start to slow down and can't keep up as fast. Hounds are forced to live in conditions where there can be at least 40 of them packed together in one small area, giving them no room to run, and are often covered in their own filth. Hunts kill roughly 10,000 hounds every year. The younger ones are killed if they don't hunt as well as the others. Some die chasing the fox over railways and roads. There have even been cases of fox hunters FEEDING their hounds to the others. Hounds are even STARVED before a hunt to make them work harder for people's pleasure. It's disgusting.
Foxes are incredibly intelligent and important creatures that certainly don't deserve to die in the way they do (nor do the hounds deserve such treatment either). They are shy, and curious, and are about as harmful as a cat. Actually, even cats have the power to run them off. They are opportunists and won't risk getting hurt; they strive for easy meals like fruit, rabbits and mice.
I think it's about time to get a ban started here in America (although they say they do things differently here, the fox's life can still end the same; a cruel, torturous demise).
What is the main purpose of this bloodsport then? Hunting is the exercise of power over a vulnerable prey. This is the source of pleasure it provides for those whose own lives and self-image are inadequate. There is also the element of social bonding. A 10 year Oxford University study found that only half of the Hunt Masters questioned mentioned fox control as any justification for their 'sport'. 82% claimed that the hunt's main role was as 'a recreational and social force embodying a traditional rural pastime'.
A lot of hunters say they simply love the "thrill of the chase." If this was the case, however, they'd go with the ALTERNATIVE, HUMANE ways of continuing their "fun" by DRAGGING, or chasing the "clean boot" (then they could also keep their jobs that people sometimes complain about as well). There are even other methods; and these give you the SAME EXPERIENCE as if you were really chasing a helpless animal -- except your conscience is free that you didn't actually torture, and end up with a torn apart creature by the end of the day. For foxes aren't always the targets here. A lot of the times pets are ripped limb from limb as fox hunts often trespass on private property or could end up in your backyard. This is insane. And why? Because these people HAVE to see death by the end of the day.
STOP FOX HUNTING. In the 21st century, society can certainly go without the needless bloodsport (like any other). If foxes are a problem, you take care of it humanely and focus on the problem, not make a GAME out of someone's life and torture them to death.
Over 80% of people in England voted AGAINST fox hunting. It's about time America caught up with the times and ended this so-called "tradition." We are supposed to learn from our mistakes, not continue them.
But that doesn't mean fox hunting is over, despite the bans. There are sick people out there that continue to illegally torture these animals.
Help stop this madness. They cry and suffer. Be their voice. Spread the word.
COMMERCIAL AGAINST FOX HUNTING Anti-Fox Hunting Viral
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