KEEP HUNTING AND SCRAP THE ACT
by Kirsty Sloan - aged 13 years old.
It has been three years since the hunting ban and I think it has stopped!
Three years ago, hunting was banned in England, but hunters refused to stop. In Scotland the Government compromised and said that they could hunt, but they had to kill a fox with a gun and stop the houunds getting it. I do not think that is a good enough.
Hunting is an old tradition and is the most humane way of pest and vermin control. It is also fun for horses, riders and hounds - the protesters think otherwise.
Protesteros still think fox hungint is wrong but the truth is, do they know all about this old tradition?
In a typical hunt, all the horses and hounds meet at a meeting point and set off for a day hunting, which has been planned in advance. They are offered a drink before they set off, which is called a stirup cup, a cake or traybake.
They have a route set out earlier by the huntsman dragging a scent. Nowadays, in some hunts quad bikes are used. The Hunt rides through fields and woodland identified earlier with the farmer or landowner, which can last all day. The Huntsman will call for Home when it is time to return.
If the hounds found a fox before the ban the huntsman would let the hounds chase the fox, and if caught, would kill it by biting the fox once on the back of the nexk, which kills the fox instantly - and the fox will not feel a thing.
Now a typical hunt will call the hounds off the fox and the fox will be shot and it may not die for several more minutes, so the fox can suffer much more. Some hunts call the hounds, who are allow by law to chase the fox and ill it.
On the protestors\\\\\'side they believe that it is cruel to kill a fox and they alsywa have a gut feeling when they hear that hounds have killed a fox - but they presume the hounds have ripped the fox apart. The newspapers also do not help in situations like this, because they write reports that will sell stories and twist factsa dn make the people who are cusing a stir right!
The hunting ban was not jsut about cruelty to foxes it was also about class. The stereotype of a hunter is a well off stuck up dumb posh person and people from the working class do not liek the idea of the upper classes enjoying themselves while they are working. Many people who hunt arrange their working time to allow them to go hunting. That is not right as lots of people from the working class hunt as well. Infact, anyone who knows how to ride a horse as long as they are experienced enough can hunt.
On the hunters\\\\\' side it is fund for them to ride out through the woods and field sbut they are alos helping the farmers. Foxes are farmer\\\\\'s nightmare when all of the new born animals are outside in the fields. Fozes can cill up to fifty lambs and only eat one. When that happens the farmers livelihood is under threat.
Foxes are a pest as they can also dig holes and burrows on farming land and livestock can get stuck or break a leg in a fox hole. Badgers can also move into these holes amd form sets. Badgers are well known for being carriers of Bovine TB which can affect many cows in the farming industry and it is also very dangerous to people.
The farmers also make sure that the hunt fences are maintained in good condition, which they would not do should the hunt be discontinued.
Thre are lots of benefits to fox hunting and more people need to see that fox hunting is not all bad, so if they assay has changed your mind about fox hunting, KEEP HUNTING AND SCRAP THE ACT.
Kirsty Sloan
1S1
