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 | | From: | J Smytje | | Subject: | Pro-hunt propaganda exposed again. | | Date: | Thu, 25 Nov 2004 09:11:32 +0000 |
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 | The lies and spite continue. Pro hunt are slaughtering their dogs and
horses already despite offers to rehome them.
The facts are:
http://www.league.uk.com/pro_hunt_propaganda.htm
1. A hunt ban would force hunts to put down their hounds. WRONG! No
horse or hound needs to die. Hunts can switch to drag hunting where
the live quarry is replaced with an artificial scent. If hunts put
their animals down they would be choosing to do so. Hunts kill 3,000
hounds every year, making no efforts to re-home them when they're too
old to hunt. They also kill puppies which don't demonstrate a hunting
instinct.
2. A ban on hunting infringes on civil liberties. WRONG! A previous
challenge on those grounds was rejected in Scotland. No one has the
right to be cruel or abusive.
3. Fox hunting is a class issue. WRONG! The case against hunting is an
animal welfare issue. People from all classes exist on both sides of
the argument. The Countryside Alliance has been keen to point out the
'ordinary people' who go hunting in their adverts thus exploding their
claim of anti-hunt prejudice against the upper classes.
4. Country sports are beneficial for natural habitats because they
keep species in natural balance WRONG! Foxes naturally self-regulate
their populations; if there are too many foxes in an area then food
becomes scare and numbers fall. Pro-hunt extremists have damaged
rather than benefited the countryside in the past. English Nature
recently criticised hunt supporters who wrecked a Site of Special
Scientific Interest by burning the words "No Ban" into the grass near
the Long Man of Wilmington in East Sus.
5. The Hunting Bill threatens to destroy thousands of livelihoods.
WRONG! Hunts can switch to drag hunting. Both the independent UK-wide
study on the subject commissioned by the BBC and completed in 1998 by
Dr Neil Ward and the Burns inquiry found that there were fewer than
1,000 people directly employed by hunts.
6. Fox hunting is a necessary pest control. WRONG! The fox is
generally not a pest to farmers. The Burns report found that lamb
predation by foxes was extremely rare. Hunts frequently use artificial
earths feeding foxes to encourage them to breed exploding the myth
that hunts exist to control the fox population. And if foxes are
'vermin', why do hunts manage woodland so that foxes have an ideal
habitat for breeding?
7. Hunts have the support of the rural community. WRONG! Every year
hunt havoc brings the death of family pets, numerous cases of
trespass, and distressing scenes witnessed by innocent by-standers.
Those brave enough to complain may even face intimidation and violence
from pro-hunt extremists.
8. Fox hunting is less cruel than shooting which would increase with a
ban on hunting. WRONG! The fox isn't killed quickly with a bite to the
back of the neck. Foxes not only endure long exhausting chases, but
also the terror and pain of being savaged to death - usually by
disembowelment. Foxes that escape can die from trauma. Foxes that go
to earth can be attacked by the terrier men's dogs and a vicious and
stressful fight can ensue.
9. The number of people involved in country sports is equal to the
numbers who play football. WRONG! When pro-hunt lobbyists use this
argument they are including angling and shooting in this number. Less
than 17,000 people participate in hunting with hounds in England and
Wales (Countryside Alliance figure submitted to Burns inquiry),
whereas 12 million adults and children play football in England.
10. Banning hunting will not help a single fox. WRONG! Banning hunting
would not only prevent 20,000 foxes being unnaturally hounded to
exhaustion and/or bitten to death annually, but would also outlaw the
brutal killing of at least another 50,000 foxes tormented and killed
by gangs of men with terriers and lurchers.
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