The UK government was most certainly right in banning fox hunting. I believe it's a cruel and barbaric sport. During the time this was getting alot of coverage in the press I heard all sorts of ridiculous arguments about why fox hunting shouldn't be banned...
One of these arguments was that fox hunting is traditional....? If there is ever a poorer argument for not banning a cruel and vicious 'sport' I would like to hear it!
Another reason is that foxes are over-populated. From someone who has spent a few years living in the country, I have not once seen a fox....I've seen lots of people, but no foxes.
Again, if foxes are so over-populated, why do many hunts actually have the fox to start with. They have it, let it go to be hunted down and torn to shreds by a pack of wild animals.
Foxes attack farmers chickens and sheep...Really, that's unfortunate for those chickens, and those sheep, but thats nature. I can't say I have a great deal of sympathy for people who raise animals for the slaughter for profit. Foxes are a valuable animal. They kill many creatures in the wild that eat the crops that we grow such as rabbits
Of all the interviews and opinions I have read on Fox hunting over the years, they generally boil down to one thing. People enjoy it. Forget everything about foxes and whether they're vermin, or attack sheep. The basic core of the matter is that the people who do it get some kind of perverted pleasure from hunting down a living creature and allowing it do be torn to shreds.
How many Fox-hunters have you ever heard say 'I understand your point, and to be honest I really hate doing it, but I do it for the good of the country-side!' None. Thats because they all love it.
It's not just the foxes that get hurt either, the dogs and horses both get injured or killed during the hunt, and generally hunters have no respect for other peoples property, and the dog and horses? Well, they have no concept of it do they? Unfortunately, nor do the dogs have any concept of other peoples pets, and you cannot inform the dog 'You are only to attack the fox'. No, I'm afraid it's not unheard of for people to have their pets killed by that pack of starving bloodthirsty dogs.
Generally the type of people who support fox hunting are the type of people who believe humans have a monopoly on earth. That it is ours, and anything that doesn't fit in to our way of life we have the right to destroy, which is an attitude I find to be sickening. I'm pretty much against killing anything unless you are defending your life. Not your chosen way of life, but your life itself. The idea that any other creature on earth could be considered more of a vermin or a pest than the human species is quite frankly, laughable.