The fox could be poisoned, that is poisoned bait could be left in hope that a fox will happily devour it, the only flaw being that rabbits, hedgehogs or even badgers could intercept, therefore killing many other animals than initially desired. A poisoned fox will creep away into its den and as the poison begins to take hold, the fox dies a slow, painful death. The fox then will either rot away into the soil, contaminating that or its body complete with poison will be consumed by other animals, in turn making those, ill too.
I am sure that you, here, have all heard of the DDT nightmare; where farmer’s crops were administered with the DDT pesticide and through the food chain, thousands of fish and herons also died because of unintentional poisoning. A similar scenario could emerge here where thousands of poisoned foxes contaminate the environment, spelling doom for many species of animal. One of the reasons that humans have evolved into such a successful species is that we are able to learn from our mistakes and not continue to regurgitate them in the future. Poisoning foxes on a large scale could easily produce all the kinds of unforeseen and undesirable consequences that we saw in the DDT scenario.
Snaring or trapping results in a very painful death as the trapped animal can lay for days with the snare cutting tightly into it. As the animal struggles against the thin wire trapping it, the wire gets tighter and tighter cutting further and further into the animal producing huge, gaping wounds, while the animal is still alive. Snares not only trap foxes; again, it could be badgers, deer or rabbits that become victim to the fate initially desired for foxes. Again, not a desirable result and a very painful one.
I would like you all to picture now, a fox in a small wood, sniffing around in the undergrowth minding its own business, when a huge bang goes off at close range, the fox having heard nothing so loud, so near, ever before fears for his life and flees. Too late, an excruciating pain shoots up from the fox’s left hind leg. The fox limps off to hide itself, away from view, left to agonise over what could cause such immeasurable pain. The fox may then limp around for weeks while gangrene is slowly taking over.
Shooting a fox can never be relied on as a humane way to control foxes. Yes, one well-placed bullet from an experienced marksman can kill instantly, however there is too much risk involved. The Queen’s best marksman feels “unhappy about shooting foxes to keep the numbers down, as it is too easy to miss and not kill them outright”. If, arguably the best marksman in the country cannot ensure a clean kill every time, then how can a farmer hope to humanely control foxes using this method?
This now, only leaves one other method, foxhunting. Either hunting with hounds ensures a fast, clean and humane kill, or the fox will escape largely unscathed. Foxhounds will not chase after rabbits or badgers, only foxes, so innocent animals will not needlessly die, if they do pursue any unintended quarry the huntsman and whipper-ins will simply call the hounds off therefore harming no other creatures, as snaring and poisoning could. The fox does not suffer needlessly, as soon as the lead hound grips it, it delivers a fatal bite and the fox dies. The fox does not suffer for weeks on end; it dies almost instantaneously. Hunting is also the only method of control by which the weaker animals are taken out and not the stronger, fitter animals, so preventing the spreading of diseases, therefore maintaining the fox population as well.
This kind of selective killing will only occur in foxhunting as the fitter foxes get away; they out run or use their superior intelligence over the hounds to escape. In addition, when being hunted, foxes know how to respond; they know what is happening to them and can act accordingly. If they were shot at, all they feel is an excruciating pain that has been administered by a mysterious, powerful and external force. They would have no idea what happened to them and would be left confused and very afraid.
During the year the foot and mouth epidemic took over all of rural England, foxhunting ceased for most of the season, I, myself saw a fox that had been caught in a snare. The sight was grotesque: the poor little animal had struggled and struggled to try and free itself, not realising that every time it pulled against its restraint, the wire was just becoming tighter and tighter. That epidemic provided an insight into what might happen if foxhunting ceased permanently. Foxes would become a widespread problem and farmers would have no choice but to use these other means of killing foxes.
Let us imagine for a moment that the government did ban hunting. The hundreds of hunts all over the country would be made redundant, all the fox hounds would have to be put to sleep as they are pack animals, and while not aggressive, could not live without the security of their fellow peck members and could not be re-homed. Every single huntsman, whipper-in and master would lose their job and home; blacksmiths, farriers and tack shops would lose a great deal of their trade as there won’t be so much of a demand for the hunting public to keep their tack in top condition or to keep their horse newly shod. Many country paths would become impassable, as the hunt maintains them. There is a lot more to the hunting issue than the general public realise. I hope I have opened your eyes and you have considered the real pros and cons of hunting and not based your beliefs on the stereotypical and uniformed views that the media convey.
Ladies and gentlemen, I appeal to your moral judgement and I hope now that you can decide for yourself, which is the more humane and the more natural way for foxes to be controlled.
