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UK: Tories want to legalise fox hunting (1 Viewer)

Whilst I disagree with his views, I see no issue in someone (who has been a member of the forum for a long time) adding his opinion, albeit one that irritates many on here.

Its not trolling, its having an opinion :)


This is twice I have agreed with Jos in 2017, must be a record :eek!:
 
Could it be that we no longer need our dogs to catch our meat and therefore we would be doing this only for a leisure activity.
If the deer need to be controlled why not manage this through more humane ways - because we can. Is it just that this is just not enough fun and games for people?
Another idea would be to stop sending our sheep and cattle to be slaughtered and just send out the dogs?

Don't get me wrong, I don't like the idea of hunting with hounds either - it's just to me deer hunting seems intrinsically more 'natural' in terms of predator - prey interactions than fox hunting. There is an issue with deer - muntjac vs. woodcock for example, which is not being adequately addressed by 'humane' control methods such as shooting (in fact we're shooting the woodcock instead, but that's another story...). You could always even the odds up for the muntjac, say by using a pack of King Charles spaniels marshalled by huntspersons on Shetland ponies...seriously though, we need some of these guys:
http://www.yellowstonepark.com/wolf-reintroduction-changes-ecosystem/
 
On the other hand, I could never understand why deer hunting with dogs seemed to generate even more opprobrium. What could be more natural to a deer that to be pursued and killed by a pack of howling canids? Having eradicated the wolf from these biologically impoverished isles, there are also sound ecological reasons why a bit more deer hunting would redress the balance, to the benefit of the not-inconsiderable number of bird species which like a bit of woodland understorey. Although they used to go stag hunting, didn't they, which of course is useless as a form of population control...
I think the main reason why hunting with dogs isn't such a great idea nowadays is that you'd trample over farmlands (and nature reserves, etc.) in the process. IIRC deer hunting with dogs was intensely disliked by farmers for that reason. In the case of Britain, that is of course exacerbated by the size and structure of the country.

Also, I think reintroducing the wolf to Britain is very low on people's lists of priority right now. It's also doubtful whether there would be economic gains to it, because in between eating muntjacs and other introduced or feral pests, wolves like to snack on sheep once in a while.
 
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I think the main reason why hunting with dogs isn't such a great idea nowadays is that you'd trample over farmlands (and nature reserves, etc.) in the process. IIRC deer hunting with dogs was intensely disliked by farmers for that reason. In the case of Britain, that is of course exacerbated by the size and structure of the country.

Also, I think reintroducing the wolf to Britain is very low on people's lists of priority right now. It's also doubtful whether there would be economic gains to it, because in between eating muntjacs and other introduced or feral pests, wolves like to snack on sheep once in a while.[/QUOTE

But hill farmers can't make money from sheep these days anyway, so they are irrelevant by their own complaints: changing to providing bait for tourists to see wolves might well be their economic salvation.

John
 
The current double-standards :

If I were to let my dogs attack and kill lambs so I can spectate and salivate I would justifiably expect farmer and Mr plod to throw the book at me. Commercial loss of stock, what?

Same farmer might like Mr Huntsman to run his pack over same land and allow his dogs to do likewise with local wildlife that neither he nor farmer owns - and in many places this is being tolerated irrespective of the current law.

Corruption in our 'democracy' runs deeper that we would like to contemplate.

ps - would love to see some wolves re-wilded somewhere - but only if they are allowed to operate freely without someone else thinking they have a new quarry species.
 
Fox hunting is a 'sport' that is all about status and looking powerful. It is a thing better left in the past, there would be no benefit and it would be a step back in conservation.

I'm a strict vegetarian, but I usually have no problem in hunting, if it is done legally, responsibly and for food, bar a few cases. I think this because wild animals hunted have much more natural lives and deaths than any farm animals, especially those that live in factory farms and end up in slaughter houses.

However in my opinion foxhunting is cruel because the fox isn't even consumed and it is killed in a horrendous way. It is just a display of humans thinking they have the privilege to harm nature and animals. What benefit is there to it being brought back?

Sorry for the rant. I often see fox hunters riding around our countryside with dogs, however a few people say they are following a 'fake' scent, so no fox is involved. I don't know if that is true. I can only hope.
 
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Good point.
Are you a veggie?
I was for six years but got bored with the diet!
Mind you,I felt better about myself for those six years and didn't feel wracked with guilt but I did hanker after a bacon butty.
To be fair I will avoid meat most of the time and will look for alternatives.
Quorn has improved over the years- it doesn't taste quite so bad these days.It used to taste like salty sawdust.

Worse, I'm vegan. I don't miss meat nor cheese.
 
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