British Public and Parliament
outfoxed by IFAW

Today came the sad news that the British parliament has finally taken the long feared and misguided steps to outlaw the hunting of any game with dogs. Another successful public relations campaign by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has resulted in extreme dismay among those UK citizens who live outside of London, and who know that foxes will no longer be controlled without the traditional hunts with horses and hounds. Foxes cannot be trapped in the UK. Already, they are being recognized as a pest species around towns, villages, and even in London, where they sneak close to houses looking for house cats and garbage, and the offerings of food from those foolish enough to leave it out purposefully for them.

When France faced this problem, their solution was to outlaw trapping. Foxes are now a menace in France, where an increasing number of people must be treated every year for exposure to rabies, as infected animals charge and bite them and their livestock. When the Chunnel was built, there was great concern that rabies would enter the UK through it, as foxes and dogs could easily enter the passage and carry the disease to people and animals on the other side. Extreme high-tech measures have been taken to ensure that no animals shall enter the UK through this route.

IWMC urges support now for the legal efforts of the Countryside Alliance, which has done all it can to prevent the ban on hunting with dogs. The Alliance is about to try legal maneuvers to overturn this action. In addition, their supporters may disobey it en masse, because the hunt traditions are so deeply embedded in the culture and economy of the uplands and lowlands, that to stop them will cause extreme distress. This is a public relations effort to avert both social and ecological problems that no one wants to deal with.

Not only foxes, but other potentially troublesome species such as mink, are now off limits, to the detriment of native birds. (Mink were unwisely introduced to the UK, and escaped animals now ravage Britain's beloved songbirds). Again, a public ignorant of management principles and fired up by animal rights "cruelty" stories has responded. Legislators have heeded their demands instead of courageously replying to constituents that a ban on this very old tradition would eventually cause great harm to people and to wildlife. IWMC applauds and supports the Countryside Alliance in its efforts to get this ill-advised ban on hunting overturned before serious damage results. This is not the end of the story.