Fox hunting is a pastime that should remain legal. (Foxhunting - is this sport?)

Member Name: xcorlett

Product:	Foxhunting - is this sport?
Date:	12/03/09 (122 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: "I like it"

Disadvantages: "I don't like it!"

hmmm.... Foxhunting. I used to be staunchly against anyone hunting foxes for sport, for fun, for any reason. Much of me still is. I'd certainly not like to go out on a hunt. But, in recent years something changed. Legislation was put forward by city-folk to change the law and ban foxhunting. Why? Because many people thought it was barbaric. This stirred me up somewhat. A great deal of commercial meat and egg production is barbaric. Far more barbaric than the hunting of a fox. Chickens are raised in tiny cages, given no sunlight and pumped full of drugs. Livestock are killed in totally inhumane ways, often not being fully killed by whatever instrument is being used to dispatch them, leaving them suffering for several minutes. Yet none of this is illegal - it is up to the consumer to buy meat from more caring sources should they feel that they need to.

Fox hunting is a tradition carried out by the upper gentry for hundreds of years. It involves the killing of only a few hundred animals per year, and these animals are usually killed relatively quickly. I don't like it, but I certainly don't think I have the right to tell others that they cannot do it.

I feel it is nothing more than class warfare. The majority see these red-coated, horse mounted wealthy men and women making lots of sound and running around like buffoons. They are forced to defend themselves and come up with ideas like "we hunt them to protect the chickens" etc. This isn't really the case, as fox hunting is a highly cost-ineffective and time consuming way of protecting your hens. They do it for fun and to retain tradition.

I still have the right to go out, get a license and shoot and maim plenty of other animals. What makes the fox special? I can take my dog out and send him hunting rabbits. I can stalk deer. My cat kills creatures all the time and does not eat them. You and I may think that we should not go out and and kill things for fun, but plenty of other creatures AND humans do exactly that AND think that it is fine. And they should have the freedom to do exactly that. I believe we can change society by becoming different people ourselves, not by forcing others to be different.

Let it not be me who tells another that they cannot do something because I "don't like it". Fox hunting will die if those that believe it is good have children that want things to be different and stop hunting. Fox hunting should not be banned because other people think that it sucks.

Summary: Freedom of choice for those that partake in fox hunting