Facts on foxes (From The Argus)

Facts on foxes

5:05pm Tuesday 15th June 2010 in Your Argus

I’m afraid Mr Hillard has missed the point with respect to foxes (Letters, June 11).

It is hunting with dogs and allowing the dogs to kill the fox that has been banned.

It is still perfectly legal to snare and/or shoot foxes. Snares must be checked every 24 hours and non-target species released unharmed. Any foxes that are snared must be dispatched humanely.

So the fox population can still be controlled where necessary. There is absolutely no need to repeal the act banning “traditional” fox hunting with dogs – no more than a jolly day out for people who gain pleasure from the suffering and killing of an animal.

For those who view traditional hunting as something that is necessary for fox control and not a sport, it is worth noting that the European red fox was introduced to Australia in 1855 for the purposes of “sport” hunting. The fox population soon grew out of control, and while fox hunting with hounds resulted in roughly 650 kills annually in the state of Victoria, a state bounty on foxes resulted in more than 90,000 foxes being shot over a similar period.

This shows how ineffective hunting is as a form of fox population control.

Finally, I wonder how the residents of our towns would feel about having the local hunt galloping through town with a pack of hounds trying to kill the town foxes? I can’t see it going down too well!

Pete Millis
Chalkland Rise, Woodingdean, Brighton

I was wondering how long it would take before the pro-hunters came out of the woodwork to demand a return to hunting after the attack on the children in London. If the ban is repealed it won’t make any difference to Hackney or any other urban environment for that matter. More children are bitten by dogs than foxes. We should also realise that not all farmers detest foxes. Arable farmers welcome them as they control rabbits, mice and rats.

Foxes aren’t cunning – they do what they do to survive, like any other creature. Hunts were responsible for the death of a tiny minority of foxes and some were allowed to breed so there would always be a population to hunt.

No return to an anachronistic and cruel pastime.

Sue Baumgardt
Stoneham Road, Hove