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seven years ago to give voice to supporters of all British field sports.
Simon Hart, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, was infuriated by the final result. “The chaos and deceit that has surrounded today’s events is a fitting finale to what has been one of the most ridiculous, dishonest and time-consuming episodes in parliamentary history,” he told the Sunday Times.
There are 318 registered hound packs in England and Wales, including 184 foxhound packs and 20 harrier packs. Around 8,000 jobs depend on hunting, while upwards of 50,000 people, such as hoteliers and lorry drivers, will also be affected by the ban.
Not only mounted foxhunting is under fire: Also prohibited will be rabbit hunting, deer coursing, mink hunting, and foot hunting of any type of hound, beagle or basset.
Foxes are considered vermin by farmers, as the animals have no natural predator. Rabies, which weeds out fox overpopulation in the U.S., does not exist in England, an island nation barely the size of Virginia.
In addition to feeding on farmers’ chickens and turkeys, and conservation land pheasants and woodcocks, foxes can easily overpower small lambs and other barnyard stock. For generations, English farmers depended on foxhunters to keep the fox population in balance. Without them, CA supporters fear, farmers will resort to gassing, trapping and shooting foxes.
“That’s what most frustrates me,” said professional huntsman John Gray, an English native who emigrated to the U.S. in 1977. “This stupid ban will not save one single fox, like the anti-blood sports supporters imagine. It will mean more foxes are killed, not less — and in a far less quick and less sure way than a pack of hounds.”
The Parliamentary ban on hunting with hounds takes effect Feb. 18, 2005.
Class warfare? Or
animal protection?
Foxhunting may conjure an image of red-coated royalty dashing about the countryside, but the modem sport — in Britain and America — is actually an egalitarian pursuit. The fact that latterly foxhunting bridges class barriers, bringing rural communities of varying incomes together, has failed to diminish this British class blood lust. Most ban advocates are proudly ignorant about the sport they abolished, and have never been on a foxhunt.
“I think it is stupid class warfare,” said Dana Burke, whipper-in to the Hillsboro Hounds. “This will put a lot of people out of work, and I don’t think the anti-hunting folks think of that. Imagine the blacksmiths and horse feed dealers and fence-builders who will be out of work.
“Plus, think of all the hounds and horses that are out of a job. Hounds don’t make good pets; I’m sure lots of them will just be put down.
“That’s hundreds of years of specialized hound breeding down the tube,” she added. “And for what? Tbtal ignorance.”
Opponents of the bam have threatened to foxhunt anyway, daunting police with the
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