Bring back fox hunting

[sTaGeWaLkEr]

Yes, urban foxes are on the rise, but Fox hunting is not the answer. If there is an increase of any vermin population, it needs dealing with quickly and efficiently. A group of men and women on horseback, following a pack of dogs for a few hours to catch one fox is neither. Also, it’s not going to work in urban areas, can you see a hunt running down Penistone Road on a Saturday?

Urban Foxes are different to the country side fox although they may be some cross over at the edge of urban sprawl areas such as High Green and Stocksbridge, the ones in the highly urbanised areas have so little to do with the country side foxes.

 

I live in the country side and I am 100% against fox hunting, it’s pointless. If something needs culling, shoot it, it’s far more efficient and far more human.

Also, how come it’s only Fox’s that were hunted? The number of Rats in urban areas is far higher than foxes in urban areas but people aren’t calling for Rat hunting to be allowed, they just call a pest controller. I wonder why? Is it because the press couldn’t make a good story out of it?

 

At last. Someone talking sense.

[claire1976]

Fox hunting with dogs is not an effective method of pest control - irrespective of where you do it.

Rural fox hunting rarely results in a kill (around 1 in 4 or 5 hunts are 'succesful').

I love watching the fox cubs playing in the horses fields up at the farm on a summer evening, we have never lost any lambs or chickens to foxes as there are plenty of rabbits around for them to eat.

Urban foxes are becoming a nuisance I agree, but then man is to blame - we encouraged them into the cities years and years ago and now there is a readily available food source for them they won't just go away. People insist on feeding them in their garden (as I suspect happened at the family home with the twins) but lets not forget that even after decades of urban foxes being around we are still not at danger of them 'attacking us' - much more likely you will suffer an attack by a domestic dog or even a cat!

In this recent case the fox was frightened and lashed out, it certainly did not have any intent or malice towards the child. We need to rationalise things and stop jumping the gun when something like this happens. Its very rare indeed and will remain so.

[123456A]

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[Kassy]

I'm angry that anybody wants to cull anything, what right do we have to cull a species?, just because a child pulled on a foxes tail and it happened to bite him, People are getting stupier and stupider as time goes on.

[mike84]

reports in the news today another child attacked by fox if they hadnt banned hunting them we wouldnt be riddled with them and they wouldnt be attacking people/children

 

I've not read the whole thread so it's probably already been said.

 

How many fox hunts took place through the middle of towns and cities?? I can't ever remember seeing any. Fox hunting has 0 effect on the urban fox population. In reality, urban foxes and the ones in the country are nearly different species there lives and traits are so far apart.

[Greybeard]

I'm angry that anybody wants to cull anything, what right do we have to cull a species?, just because a child pulled on a foxes tail and it happened to bite him, People are getting stupier and stupider as time goes on.

 

Quite right Kassy, - it's stupid people who leave edible waste lying around that encourages scavengers int first place. When I were a lad we didn't have enough food for ourselves never mind donating food to foxes and rats.

 

Next of course you'll have somebody along to argue that if we don't feed the foxes and rats they'll come after our babies

[A.B.Yaffle]

Fox hunting is not about reducing the number of foxes. Hunts deliberately bred foxes in order to keep the numbers up so there would be more foxes to hunt.