February 19, 2006
...AND REDDER...:
Tories plan rapid repeal of hunting ban (Melissa Kite, 19/02/2006, Daily Telegraph)
The Conservatives have drawn up detailed plans for an immediate reversal of the hunting ban if they win power as a way of throwing "red meat" to the party faithful.Posted by Orrin Judd at February 19, 2006 11:08 AMRumours that David Cameron was backing away from the issue were flatly denied by senior Tories, who revealed that three options have been prepared to tackle the ban speedily no matter how small a Tory majority might be.
The first anniversary of the hunting ban yesterday coincided with the news that a record number of foxes have been killed since the Hunting Act came into force.
Hunts estimate that tens of thousands have been shot, snared or accidentally killed by hounds during trail hunts, which remain legal, since February 18, 2005.
The Tories' favoured option is for a one-line Bill annulling the Hunting Act to be put through Parliament in a matter of days on a free vote.
Any conservationist would say the best way to keep foxes around is to let hunters look after them and allow them to shoot some once in a while.
It worked so well with white-tail deer in the U.S. that they've become pests.
Ed
Posted by: Ed Bush at February 19, 2006 1:08 PMEd: What you write about deer is true, but we do not shoot foxes because we want foxes, but because we compete with foxes for game birds. We do not desire more foxes, but more pheasants.
We used to bounty foxes and great horned owls exactly for that reason. I have shot several over the years, incidentially to other hunts, never for the bounty, but because it was the right thing to do.
Shooting a few foxes once in a while is no help. As you point out, managed hunting actually supports the subject population. What is needed to support the hunter ecology is near eradication of the competing predators.
Posted by: Lou Gots at February 19, 2006 6:33 PM