In this week’s Wildlife Matters Investigates we look at Fox Hunting and why it is banned
So, what is Fox Hunting?
This is my attempt to explain the process of Fox hunting based on decades of doing everything I could in the field to stop it. I have also spent many years working to bring those who hunt illegally to justice. This blog is not in any way meant to justify or, indeed, glorify the cruelty of fox hunting.
Fox hunting involves using packs of dogs to locate, chase and kill foxes. The hunters can be on horseback or on foot. The dogs are specialist scent hounds trained to detect and follow the scent of the red fox. A typical fox hound pack contains 30-40 dogs and is generally accompanied by dozens of hunters who take on various roles.
Despite the 21st century, the people involved in fox hunts are still known as masters and servants. The hunt masters are the bosses or organisers. Like Company Directors, they are financially and legally responsible for the hunt. The role of the hunt master carries significant prestige. Most hunts have several masters, though not all masters are present at every hunt meet.
Whipper-in(s) – keep the hounds from going astray – they crack a whip to block fox escape routes and point out any fleeing fox to the huntsman.
Terrier men – block up fox earth and badger setts before the hunt. This is called ‘Preparing the ground”; it is done to stop foxes naturally hiding underground. During the hunt, they follow the huntsman and hounds on quad bikes with terriers in a box. If the hounds chase a fox underground, the terrier men put a terrier down after the fox to either locate and trap it while they dig it out to release in front of the hounds or keep it to be used as a ‘bagged fox’ – for a day when foxes may not be found; they have one to release or possibly, shoot it.
Hunts try to attract supporters who pay to take part in the day. Anywhere from a dozen to over 100 horse riders may pay to accompany a mounted fox hunt, and these riders are collectively known as ‘the field’. Each rider pays ‘the cap’ fee to the Master.
Hunt supporters play no official role but may influence the control of the hounds by alerting the Huntsman of the location of foxes. They assist with blocking fox escape routes and making noise to try to disorient a fleeing fox. Sometimes, people pay to follow the hunt on foot or in their cars. They do try to prevent foxes from escaping the pursuing hounds.
Fox hunting is a common activity that takes place in the fall and winter seasons. Most hunts meet two to four times per week and can chase numerous foxes during one hunt meet. The length of the chase can vary from a few minutes to over an hour, with an average of 15 to 20 minutes. The distance covered during a chase can be up to six or seven miles in a circular or twisting path. It is also worth noting that individual foxes can be chased multiple times in one day.
No animal has evolved to withstand the experience of being chased by packs of dogs alongside dozens of people – often on horseback – shouting and blowing horns, all in an effort to prevent the animal from escaping. This is not a natural occurrence. The fox that is being chased suffers from immense stress that it is not biologically capable of coping with. The hunts deliberately obstruct the foxes from performing their natural coping behaviour.
Foxes naturally escape predators by going underground, but hunt terrier men block these escape routes, forcing an unnaturally long chase. If a fit fox does succeed in escaping by going underground, the terriers are sent down after them to trap the fox while terrier men dig it out.
In the year 2000, the government released the Burns Report, which stated that the inability to escape dogs while underground causes extreme fear and serious compromise of welfare for foxes. When foxes are forced to confront terriers underground, they are often killed after sustaining injuries to their face, head, and neck. This is also true for the terrier dogs, who are often left with untreated wounds and subsequently shot as they are unproductive for the terrier man.
Foxes caught by the pack of hounds above ground suffer a violent death. Autopsies have revealed that they are NOT killed quickly as is often claimed by the Hunters – but instead are forced to endure numerous bites and tears to their flanks and hindquarters – causing enormous pain and suffering before death.
Further suffering is caused during spring hunts. Many fox hunts operate in March and April, when female foxes are likely to have cubs in an underground den. If a female fox is hunted while out finding food, her young cubs will die, as they rely on her for food and warmth.
Fox hunts use other dirty tricks to ensure they get the ‘thrill of a kill’ every time they meet. Both pre-and post-ban have had multiple exposures to hunting buildings and maintaining artificial fox earth (artificial structures designed to mimic fox earth that provide breeding space and shelter) and supplementary food to encourage foxes to stay in the area.
Hunters were found to be using artificial earths to attract foxes, as they even acknowledged in submissions to the Burns Inquiry. However, the inquiry’s response undermines the hunters’ claims of ‘fox control’. Lord Burn noted that it is difficult to reconcile the hunters’ use of artificial earth with the argument that foxes are pests and that their numbers need to be controlled through hunting. The active use of artificial earth with a view to hunting is inconsistent with the stated objective of controlling fox numbers.
Hunts even resort to using ‘bagged foxes’ to ensure they get a kill. The terrier men trap foxes or buy them from gamekeepers, hold them captive until hunt day, and then release one in front of the hounds.
In May 2015, a League Against Cruel Sports investigation discovered 16 fox cubs being held captive next to a fox hunt’s kennels. In 2012, an employee of Fitzwilliam Hunt was convicted under the Animal Welfare Act for having a pregnant vixen captive in cruel conditions. During the height of the campaign for a ban on hunting, both the Sinnington and Cottesmore hunts were caught keeping fox cubs captive for hunting.
Dogs are typically trained for fox hunting during the early autumn when fox hunts go cubbing, also known as hound exercise.
“The practice of training new hounds to kill young fox cubs who are exploring unfamiliar territories away from their parents is common in some hunting circles. The cubs, being naive, are easy prey for the hounds who are trained to hunt them down. To make the hunt easier, members of the hunt surround the woods where the dogs have detected foxes and make loud noises by shouting, banging their saddles, and slapping their thighs to scare the young foxes. This makes it easier for the hounds to catch them.”
Hunting with dogs was banned in England & Wales in 2004 (Scotland in 2002) because of the profound suffering it causes to foxes and other hunted animals, such as stags and hares. The law was not only intended to stop foxes from being killed but to stop them being killed in the cruellest ways – with a prolonged chase and violent death.
Exemptions were included in the law that permits dogs to be used in certain specific circumstances:
Stalking and flushing to guns: Two dogs may be used to flush a fox from cover so it can be shot to protect livestock, game birds or biodiversity. The dogs must be kept under close control, and the fox must be shot as soon as it breaks from cover – no further chasing is allowed.
Rescue of an injured mammal: Two dogs may be used to capture a fox if the hunt believes it is injured and the hunting is undertaken to relieve its suffering.
Research and observation: Two dogs are allowed to be used for or in connection with the observation or study of a wild mammal
Flushing to a bird of prey: An unlimited number of dogs can flush a fox from cover to a bird of prey which will catch and kill it.
Recapture of escaped wild mammal: An unlimited number of dogs can capture a fox that has escaped.
Use of a dog below ground (known as terrier work): One terrier may be used below ground to flush out a fox to be shot to protect game birds being reared for shooting. The terrier men must carry written permission from the landowner.
Fox hunters have tried many ways to avoid the law. When the Hunting Act was introduced, many hunters quickly took raptors to claim to be using the bird of prey exemption. This cynical subterfuge soon wore thin, and very few hunts claim to be using this exemption today. Equally, some hunters went out with just two hounds and claimed to be flushing to guns, but this did not last very long either.
Today, very few fox hunts claim to be hunting under one of the Act’s exemptions. Instead, most say they have switched to ‘trail hunting’, where the dogs follow a pre-laid scent trail made using fox urine.
Hunts have been monitored for decades by volunteers opposed to hunting, collectively known as Hunt Saboteurs. Hunt Sabs regularly give their time to stop hunters from killing foxes. A quick look online will reveal numerous videos of hunts who have not laid any trail before they meet.
Trail Hunting has always been about deception; it’s a game of ‘smoke and Mirrors’ purposely created by Hunters to ‘get around’ the Hunting Act.
It is essential to explain that Drag hunts use bloodhounds trained to follow a non-animal scent, usually aniseed, and laid across fields. Clean Boot Hunting is also not the same as Trail Hunting. Clean boot hunts follow a human runner over a pre-laid course. With both clean boot and Drag hunting, the aim is for the rider to enjoy riding the horse across a range of terrain, and they are usually skilled horse riders.
You will never see Drag or clean boot hunts crossing a main road, holding up traffic and generally causing a public disturbance. They do not ride through villages and towns, trespass into people’s gardens, or get their hounds hit by cars and trains. They also do not abandon their hounds when in a potentially difficult situation and the police are called.
Wildlife Matters believes releasing the Zoom webinars is another significant nail in the coffin for fox hunters. Their undeniable blood lust is intense, and they are well connected within the British system, but what they do is illegal and morally unjustifiable.
References
1. Burns L, Edwards V, Marsh J, Soulsby L, and Winter M. (2000) Report of the Committee of Inquiry into hunting with dogs in England and Wales. The Stationery Office, London.
2. Kidnapped for Cruelty – 16 fox cubs found in a barn ‘linked to a high-profile hunt, claims charity http://tinyurl.com/q78wawb
3. Peterborough Telegraph (2012) Hunt terrier man fined over fox ‘in a barrel’ 3rd May http://tinyurl.com/pjx9nlt
4. Sengupta K (1998) Storm over fox cubs reared for the hunt. The Independent, 28th June http://tinyurl.com/nfadzc
5. BBC News (2003) Hunt Masters suspended. 28th June http://tinyurl.com/oxnw9gm
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Further Reading
If Fox Hunting is Banned, why does it still take place? -Protect the Wild
What is the law relating to Fox Hunting in England – Claims UK
Is Fox Hunting Illegal? – Yorkshire Police
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