Certain U.K. yahoos have now passed a law outlawing foxhunting.
Actually, it’s worse than that.
They’ve passed a law to ban the use of dogs in hunting.
It’s apparently "wrong."
Yeah.
Dogs can go out and hunt naturally, as their instincts tell them to, but humans can’t faciliate dog’s natural instincts because that’s "wrong."
Uh-huh.
To quote Ford Prefect: "YOU’RE A LOAD OF USELESS BLOODY LOONIES!!!"
Now, I should note that the last comment was not directed at all people in the U.K. It’s only direted to those who are yahoos. Not everybody in the U.K. is a yahoo. For example, I’d extent a special holler to those entrerprising ex-hunters who, lest their dogs suffer from lack of exercise, have started to get gussied up with the red coats and all and then hop on their horses and take the dogs out for a brisk run and everything stays well within the law as long as no foxes happen to cross their paths . . . in which case canine instincts might take over . . . through no fault at all of the ex-hunters, of course!
Powerline (cowboy hat tip to them) notes:
This is one time when we can say "It can’t happen here," and really mean it. America’s hunters are too powerful; I suspect they’re also better armed than their English counterparts. I think it’s time for the NRA to open a branch in England [SOURCE].
I strenuously disagree, bloodsports…and in this instance, fox hunting, is a ‘pleasurable pastime for toffs’ and is completely repugnant and unneccessary.
If foxes are a rural problem then a trained marksman should be bought in to quicky and humanely shoot the animal…part of this whole issue of revolt against the upper classes is an objection to the blood mongering enthusiasts who delight in this cruel and merciless act.
The population of foxes may indeed need to be controlled, but not in this way, but IMVHO anyone who can get excited about watching a pack of dog’s rip a fox to pieces after scaring the life out of it for up to an hour (or more on occassion), has to be a few french fries short of a happy meal.
God Bless.
Can’t hunt the fox but you can get your jollies off torturing someone else if they consent to it. Screwed up laws.
I hate to break this to ukok, but a “trained marksman” in the military/police sense isn’t adequate to cope with wild nuisance animals. It’s not like the animals are hanging around public places like rabies victims, waiting to get shot. You do need some kind of “hunting” ability, in the American sense of someone who can track or lie in wait for the critter on foot, to control that kind of animal.
Anybody who thinks that hunting in GB is strictly a rich man’s game needs to check out the fiction works of Gerald Hammond, who paints a vivid picture of middle-class gun/hunting afficionados in Scotland.
May i point out that a trained marksman is identified as anyone who is skilled in shooting at a target (check out line a. at dictionary.com)…i gleaned the sarcasm but, i thought it best to point this out.
As for your other comment’s, they do nothing to negate my remarks. I don’t need to read a work of fiction to dispel any notion of it being a ‘rich mans game’…ultimately it is a cruel and barbaric (tasteless) act, to enthuse about and delight in the chase and subsequent butchery of a fox in the name of ‘Sport’.
Each to his own.
God Bless.
We’ve already banned hunting bears and cougars with dogs in several states.
As a result, the cougar/mountain lion population is exploding on the west coast, and encounters/attacks are increasing.
City people voting on stuff about which they have no idea is not a good idea. That’s why the principle of subsidiarity applies here, in my opinion.
Hey, ukok, you got anything against fishing?
Yes, ukok, I know what a trained marksman is, I am simply unconvinced that you know what “nuisance animal control” entails, or the role conservation-minded hunters can play in it (*can* play, obviously they don’t always).
I have no very high opinion of traditional (horseback) fox hunting myself, but I felt obliged to point out that American-style hunting, on foot, with pointer/retriever type dogs, by people who aren’t obliged to eat what they kill but do anyway, does exist in the UK and as it happens is convincingly portrayed in fiction available on my side of the pond. Not everyone learns about “bloodsports” from watching Mary Poppins, after all 😉
As you say, though: to each his or her own.
As an hunter myself, I have to say I’m disturbed by the end result of these fox hunts. If the fox was shot it would be a different story. In this country, especially the South, coon hunters often hunt in similar fashion, in which they let the hounds kill the coons, often with pretty bad results for the dogs.
My problem isn’t the killing of non-food animals, although coons are very edible, but the manner in which they’re killed.
Terry: yeah, my gripes with traditional fox hunting are similiar-mostly seems like a great way to break a man’s-or a horse’s-neck, and as you point out, the end result’s not great for the dogs either.
Trouble is, the anti-hunting lobbies in Britain seem to tend to tar all forms of hunting with the same brush, so the political debate ends up being an all or nothing proposition. At least, from what I can tell.
Not being “into” bloodsports in any way myself, and being an animal lover, I have to say that the legislation seems FAR more about class than animal welfare. It terms of animal welfare alone, there would seem to be many other issues higher up on the triage list….
And I think this false ring to the matter may undergird the undoing of the practical effect of this legislation.
Then again, while we most certaintly have classes in America, the atavistic nature of the Europrean version does tend to mystify us….
I think this is really sad because this is an English tradition. Here in Australia aboriginals are allowed to hunt turtles and dugongs, which are endangered, because it’s part of their cultural tradition. But the Poms can’t hunt foxes? Why? Because it’s part of western culture which we all know is devoid of value? That is my feeling having grown up in a school system that was determined to brainwash me into multiculturalism and make me feel like I didn’t have a culture.
Foxes are not an endangered species, here in Australia they are a pest and are eating most of our native marsupials so I have no sympathy for them. Perhaps the Poms should do us a favour come here to hunt.