Hunting Act 2004 – To Be Amended

The Red Fox is a truly beautiful animal, they are in fact one of my favorite animals. During the twilight hours if I’m lucky I can get a good view of them running around on the communal area outside my flat, chasing and playing with each other and on the look out for food. They are intelligent creatures and look absolutely stunning. However for many years they have been the target of many inhumane actions, such as the fur trade and hunting. Due to their beautiful fur coats they were one of the main targets of the evil fur trade. The Red Fox was also mentioned in human folklore and mythology. Due to this I believe that the Red Fox deserves to live worry free, and doesn’t deserve to be chased around by huntsmen and they hounds, shot or killed by humans in any way, shape or form.

Fox hunting originated in the 16th century and was practiced in the UK until 2005 however it also takes place in other countries around the world, such as America, France and more. Fox hunting in it’s traditional form where huntsmen would lead a pack of scent dog’s into fields searching for a foxes scent and then continue to let the dogs search and then chase any foxes they come across, the fox will then face death. However many of the deaths to foxes are cruel and inhumane allowing the hounds to attack and violently kill the poor, scared fox. Many videos have been exposed of hunters using spades or sticks to injury or kill the foxes found and chased during hunts. Some are even seen throwing an injured fox into the pack of hounds.

However The Hunting Act 2004 which came into effect in 2005 made hunting foxes with more than 2 hounds illegal and also made it illegal for the foxes to be killed by the hounds. There are ways to still fox hunt even after the ban and most hunt’s do abide by the regulations of the law, however many organisations still believe that there are many illegal hunts occurring all the time and these hunt’s are not only illegal but also cause stress and misery to the foxes involved. It’s also illegal for a hound to chase a foxes scent so the dogs used in fox hunts after 2005 follow an artificial scent. Legal fox hunts include chasing foxes in order for a bird of prey (which are brought along to hunts) to hunt the fox and also in order to remove the fox as a “pest”

Foxes are seen by farmers as pest, these cunning animals will attack and kill livestock, however I believe that livestock is a farmers possession and if he isn’t providing them with enough security and shelter to keep foxes away then foxes can’t get the blame for doing as nature intended for them to do. However a surprising statistic of a measly 0.4% of livestock deaths are caused by attacks by other animals.

The amendment has sparked fears in those people who are against fox hunts that although the Hunting Act 2004 will still be in place the changes in the law may help re-introduce fox hunting back into legality via the back door, David Cameron has show his “sympathy” for those farmers who are opposing the hunting ban, this has sparked fear in the 80% of the population who believe fox hunt’s are cruel and although the amendment wouldn’t legalese all fox hunts it’s an easier way for the minority of the population to get things their way. As an out right vote on removing the ban on hunting foxes would never be approved.

The Hunting Act 2004 has become one of the most efficient pieces of animal legislation due to over 280 prosecutions since it has been in place. So we need to stand up for what we believe in is right, and not allow David Cameron’s sly tactics to work. We mustn’t allow for these cruel acts of behavior to again become just another industry profiting off of animal cruelty.

We won’t allow the foxes of Great Britain to fight this battle alone!