The issue of the live hunting of foxes, hares and deer is never far away, with tens of thousands of Westcountry people seeking a repeal of the controversial Hunting Act. Western Morning News farming editor Peter Hall gives his view...
There is a good chance you may venture out to witness a meet of your local hunt in a market square, outside a pub or in a farmyard today.
The Boxing Day Meet is a grand sight, an image to warm the cockles of a tourist-board executive's heart, the venue packed with people enjoying the ambience of a traditional event.
There will be the a steaming stirrup cup for the mounted followers, mince pies, meat patties, bags of generous hospitality – plus the chance for children to meet the hounds and pat the horses.
It all lasts quite a long time (longer than normal meets), but before the hunt moves off, the master will make it clear that a drag line has been laid over the neighbouring countryside for the hounds to follow, simulating the line of a fox or hare.
Someone on a horse or quad bike, or even on foot, will have laid the trail, using an attractively smelly scent . . . and they will almost certainly have been filmed doing so.
Because for the past several seasons foxhunting and hare hunting with hounds has been banned, probably the nastiest and most spiteful piece of legislation to have emanated from the New Labour regime.
Appallingly badly drafted, the new law wasted hundreds of highly expensive hours of parliamentary time and led to widespread resentment, particularly among country people, who know more about wildlife than any amount of urban MPs, bureaucrats, advisers and "experts".
Misplaced sentiment and good intention has a lot to answer for, with the Hunting Act having precisely the reverse effect to that intended. It has increased suffering among foxes 100-fold, and their numbers have fallen dramatically. Ask anyone who lives in fox country and they will tell you.
Fox numbers need to be controlled, and they were with hunting, which acted an a highly inefficient way of killing foxes, but a highly efficient form of culling, the hounds generally catching only the sickly, old and infirm. Independent statistics showed that one in 10 of foxes found by the hunt was caught. The remainder got away.
What has happened since the ban? Without the balanced control provided by hunting, anyone with a shotgun feels they have a carte blanche to blast away at foxes by day or night, with no closed season, pregnant vixens, cubs, fit young foxes included. A very large percentage of those hit by shot are not killed outright, but crawl away to suffer a long and painful death, through gangrene and starvation. What a travesty of animal welfare.
In hunting they were either killed, their end coming very quickly, or they got away.
Despite efforts by the anti-hunt organisations, who have a vested interest in bringing prosecutions, the vast majority of hunts have persisted in playing a straight bat in obeying the law. Those that I have seen, up and down the country, since the ban, have been absolutely scrupulous about adhering to the legislation, however irksome.
This is, when all said and done, an animal-welfare issue.
Most people living in the country, farmers included, love to see foxes on their land, or near their home. It is a privilege; the same as rabbits and badgers, stoats and weasels, squirrels and voles, and all those wild birds. It's all part of a way of life, of being a real environmentalist, one with a small "e".
Shall we see a return of hunting? I sincerely hope so. When the WMN carried out a reader poll before the ban, over 90% were in favour of retaining hunting. Before the last General Election David Cameron promised a free vote in the House of Commons on repealing the Hunting Act. But under the present Coalition Government that just won't happen: the numbers don't stack up in favour of hunting, given the plethora of irrational, populist and downright wrong "anti" propaganda that would manifest itself as sure as night follows day.
But an amendment of the Act might. How about a return of hunting with stringent conditions? Such as no digging out and shooting of foxes except at the express request of the farmer/landowner. And no bolting of foxes with terriers once they have gone to ground. Those should satisfy many concerns.
What about hare coursing and staghunting – two very different propositions?
Well coursing was the only field sport where the object was not to catch the quarry, but to test greyhounds one against the other. Not many hares were caught, and none would be if the hounds wore racing muzzles, as they do when coursing in Ireland. Ironically staghunting persists, with just two hounds permitted to hunt a deer at any one time. It is not my sport, and never will be – it certainly attracts adverse attention.
Back to Boxing Day. If you can, turn out and support your local hunt. Individual hunts and representatives of organisations like the Countryside Alliance will be there to explain what's happening.
