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Fox Hunting: No Appetite To Repeal Act, Poll Finds

Fox Hunting

First Posted: 26/12/11 09:17 GMT Updated: 26/12/11 09:17 GMT   PA

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A vote to repeal the Hunting Act should not be a top animal welfare priority for the coalition Government, according to a poll.

The Government should instead work to tackle irresponsible owners of dangerous dogs, a study conducted on behalf of the charity League Against Cruel Sports found.

Of the 2,126 adults questioned, 48% said that a vote to repeal the act was the least important animal welfare priority.

A third of people thought that tackling dangerous dog owners should be the top priority, over the vote to repeal, promoting farm animal welfare, reducing testing on animals and promoting responsible pet ownership.

According to the study, more than two-thirds of adults believed the act should remain in place.

Charity chief executive Joe Duckworth said: "It comes as no surprise that the public has shown there is no appetite to waste Parliamentary time on voting to repeal the Hunting Act.

"The figures speak for themselves and we have seen poll after poll show that the public support and belief in the Hunting Act is overwhelmingly high.

"The vast majority has absolutely no desire to see wild animals being chased and killed legally in our countryside."

The coalition government has promised to allow MPs a free vote on whether to bring forward legislation to repeal the Hunting Act, which made it illegal to hunt wild animals using dogs.

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preservethe future
1 Fans
12:16 AM on 12/30/2011
Leave the Blair driven Hunting Act as it is.......government has far more pressing matters to attend to than stirring up all the rhetoric and emotions about foxes, they are doing nicely just as things are.
Incidently, you do not have to be a 'Toff to hunt to hounds nor yet particularly well off, a lot of hunting folk are, for the most part, hard working, working class people who simply enjoy the freedom of riding in our fine english country side, only open to access like this because of our historical and well managed hunting yards. I don't hunt, and abhor animal cruelty, but also can see we must keep our rural feet on the ground, fox population management does still take place, it is unseen, gassing, shooting, poisoning, trapping......hunting was a method of control, but its impact on numbers where so small as to be insignificant, maybe if we rid england of foxes we would close this tedious subject once and for all, but nobody wants that to happen??
Countryboy.
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UKVisitor
420 Fans
10:13 PM on 12/28/2011
They don't let poor people bait badgers or course hares any more, so why are they considering letting the better off hunt foxes again?

Seems like a double standard.
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redsquaddie
27 Fans
01:34 PM on 12/29/2011
No its about repealing the entire act not just fox hunting and about time to Red xxx
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Blindstu
132 Fans
03:24 PM on 12/27/2011
Well, it might make a difference if they stopped calling fox hunting a sport......I'm quite sure that the fox doesn't think it's a sport. Causing the death of any creature, surely cannot be considered a sport. If foxes are a menace, just why is it necessary to have dogs rip them apart?.............there has to be other ways to keep the numbers down. Nobody is suggesting that gentlemen and ladies can't get dressed up in red coats and riding boots to go galloping across fields but why slaughter a fox? Mind you, I'm not keen on calling boxing a sport either where there's a very good risk that those taking part could end up with brain damage.
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Paul Wagland
Resistance is fertile
253 Fans
07:55 PM on 12/27/2011
Agreed, but foxes are not a menace - that's just an excuse used by the people who enjoy hunting them.
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Thismortalcoil
Science is the poetry of reality
634 Fans
10:54 AM on 12/27/2011
It's simply ludicrous to suggest repealing a law simply because some people break it. Should we legalise murder because some people kill?

Interestingly, the fox hunting ban has been the most successful animal welfare act by far in terms of convictions over the last three years.

The vast majority of people in this country, especially people who live in the country, are opposed to fox hunting. It's cruel, it doesn't reduce the number of foxes, it does absolutely nothing to protect livestock and it doesn't create any more jobs than legal drag hunting does.

So far, there hasn't been one single good reason raised for bringing fox hunting back.
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Paul Wagland
Resistance is fertile
253 Fans
07:54 PM on 12/27/2011
Very good post. Wish I could fan you twice!
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redsquaddie
27 Fans
05:12 PM on 12/28/2011
Biggest daftest inane load of rubbish Redxxx
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UKVisitor
420 Fans
10:07 PM on 12/28/2011
I'm interested in why you think that Red? Can you give us a different view point?
Cheers.
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Techwood
21 Fans
07:22 AM on 12/27/2011
The Hunting Bill was a smoke screen to cover up the pushing through of the Civil Contingencies bill which contains powers to curtail freedoms without direct referal to to any one other than the Home Sec by street or post code - seems they forgot about this when we had riots - but then like most of the garbage legislation we have had foisted upon us over the last 15/20 years under the many guises, the EU, Human rights,Health and Safety etc this is all leading to a disaffected and disassociated society.
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redsquaddie
27 Fans
01:39 PM on 12/29/2011
At last someone who knows the truth and drags this immotive subject into reality it was just a smokescreen to get laws passed that no sane person would accept in the guise of hugging an animal that IS a menace to live stock and Badgers do spread Bovine TB but most important is our liberties and the erosion of them keep on Techwood Red xxx
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ashootist
28 Fans
07:38 PM on 12/26/2011
Repeal the act then repeal MP's expense sheet claims I bet they would talk that one out of parliament
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ideaville
I have sexdaily, I mean dyslexia, Danm!
250 Fans
06:12 PM on 12/26/2011
Leaving aside whether I agree or not with the previous government wasting so much money banning Fox hunting when there were surely better things to do, they plainly failed to set the law up properly and left so many loopholes the it can not be enforced. A simple "we weren't hunting, we were just taking the dogs for a walk when they caught a fox" should be enough to avoid any charges.
If they were going to make a law, it should have been drafted with a little intelligence.
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brtopper
11 Fans
03:11 PM on 12/26/2011
The law says It's illegal to hunt "wild" animals with dogs. But if the game is domestically raised then the animal in question can no longer be consisdered wild, therefore making it legal I believe. This is how you get around the law.
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Paul Wagland
Resistance is fertile
253 Fans
06:00 PM on 12/26/2011
The only excuse given for fox-hunting is that it's pest control. You think breeding the 'pests' is the answer?

How do you think the RSPCA would react to someone they caught breeding animals to be thrown live to packs of dogs for nothing more than entertainment?
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ashootist
28 Fans
07:37 PM on 12/26/2011
the rspca regularly release fox they have had in their care into areas they dont come from they are regulaly seen wandering round a starnge area looking for an earth I should know as I shot most of them within weeks as they were causing live stock problems. The rspca aint the brightest buttons in the box
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brtopper
11 Fans
11:50 PM on 12/26/2011
I never intended it to be the answer, It was only a possible answer as how they can still do it with laws that are meant to stop it. The term "wild" seams to be more of a loophole, to me, than anything else.
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Southern law girl
Researching my viewpoint....
161 Fans
02:30 PM on 12/26/2011
I can assure you the hunting fraternity doesn't only consist of the rich and privileged, it is supported by a cross section of society, some follow on horse back, others follow on foot. Personally, I believe the blood sport, if you can call it sport, is both outdated and barbaric and should be confined to the days when society was nothing more than wild. It should also be noted those who take part also consist of Heads of Banks and sons of pop stars.
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Kehlan Sutai Inigan
32 Fans
10:59 AM on 12/26/2011
this law is a joke anyway. Its a fact that today, Boxing Day, over 300 hunts are taking place. If hunting is illegal why is this allowed? They should either repeal the law and allow huting, or they should tighten it up and enforce it, as it stands now its useless and doing no good whatsoever.
Personally I believe they should enforce it. And before you tell me I must be a city dweller with no understanding of the countryside, villages dont get much more rural than mine. this is the 21st century, is riding around the countryside, with a pack of hounds and chasing a wild animal until it is exhausted and terrified, before alloing the dogs to tear it to pieces and then smearing its blood although first time hunters, really the best entertainment our rich and priviledged can come up with? sorry but if you think thats fun your sick.
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Thismortalcoil
Science is the poetry of reality
634 Fans
10:33 AM on 12/28/2011
I think the current government may have shot themselves in the foot by talking about the possibility of repealing the law. All it's doing is making the general public discuss the topic more, which is demonstrating that the majority of people are opposed to fox hunting and believe that the law should be more strongly upheld.

So far, the law has been effective in some areas, and over the last three years it has led to a number of convictions. Hopefully we're moving forward to a time when nobody will consider tearing an animal to pieces to be 'sport'.
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