Dead Or Alive (DVD)

Foxhunting is back in the news again as the Scottish parliament votes almost overwhelmingly to ban the sport. I will use the word “sport” throughout the opinion, judge for yourself whether it is a sport or not at the end. You only have to look at the sheer number of opinions that have been written on DooYoo alone on this topic to realise that this is a topic which stirs up the passions. Some would have us believe that this sport is nothing short of barbarism whilst others eschew the rights of the enthusiast to pursue his sport in the same way as those who follow a football team. Originally hunting was a noble sport, the pursuit of Kings ...

The most interesting debate over democracy has always been where does the will of the majority end and the rights of the minority begin. On no issue is this more relevant than on the banning of hunting with dogs. An overwhelming majority (more than ¾ in every poll conducted) support the a ban on fox hunting and hence, the argument goes, in a democratic society the majority view must prevail. However, an important aspect of democracy is toleration, and it could be argued that the majority has no right to enforce its will over the minority. Those who wish to continue to allow hunting with dogs argue that society should tolerate their activities even if they do ...

I thought long and hard before writing here. I rarely venture into the forum debates but as the sports guide I have the great honour of reading all the opinions that come through this category. The foxhunting debate has become one of the hot topics and raises many emotions on all sides. So why did I feel wary of coming here? Well firstly it is such an emotive issue, and one where the often stiff medium of words on screen don't do it justice. Secondly and following on from the emotional stance I studied the sociology of sport and read many of the historical studies on fox hunting. Add to this the fact I from a farming background and I can swing from the ...