Fox Hunting Should Be Banned

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I have studied Fox hunting, and I agree wholeheartedly with this

statement. I have heard interviews with hunt supporters in which they

say that fox hunting does a huge job for farmers in keeping fox

numbers down. I cannot believe that this is true, and having

researched it on the internet I have found that at least 2 scientific

studies have concluded that statistically the numbers of foxes killed

by hunts is insignificant. I appreciate that killing the fox and

keeping numbers down is not the only reason that hunts take place, but

it is often used as an excuse for the purpose of fox hunting; hence

hunt supporters appear to contradict themselves in their response to

individual questions on why they hunt and group responses to political

criticism or pressure from animal rights groups.

In my research on fox hunting I have discovered that a fox hunt of

some sort takes place in a number of European countries, America,

Canada, Russia and elsewhere. I found these statements on the Masters

of Foxhounds Association of America (MFAA) website (

http://www.mfha.com ) :

"In Britain the goal is to kill the fox. Because there is no rabies in

the British Isles, populations of fox are extremely high and fox are

considered vermin."

"Farmers with sheep farms want the animal numbers controlled. In

America this is not normally the case. A successful hunt ends when the

fox is accounted for by entering a hole in the ground, called an

earth. Once there, hounds are rewarded with praise from their

huntsman. The fox gets away and is chased another day." The MFAA's

Code of Hunting Practices does not rule out killing the quarry - but

does not allow digging out of an animal once it has gone to ground.

Because of Northern America's "more sporting" approach to hunting with

hounds, there is much less organized opposition to the sport.

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)'s Cindy Milburn said: "I

have heard fox hunters in the USA boast that they haven't actually

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