The Blue Fox is the symbol of Conservatives Against Fox Hunting.
On Tuesday 14th August 2011 the Countryside Alliance published an article on it’s website called’ The Blue Fox’ Group- a statement’.
www.countryside-alliance.org.uk/ca/campaigns-hunting/blue-fox-group-a-statement
The article writes about the anti hunting Conservative MPs
Please visit the link above for the full article on the website.
New article: The hunt and how it can affect the countryside.
At the present time there are an increasing number of Conservative anti repeal MPs in the party and there has never been so many Conservative MPs who are against hunting with hounds within the Conservative party at any other time in it’s history. The majority of Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs are firmly opposed to repeal and have pledged to vote against it if a free vote is offered.The number of Labour MPs who support hunting with hounds can be counted on one hand and it was indeed the Labour government who introduced the ban and it is supported by the overwhelming majority of the people of England and Wales.
Many people claim that if the Coalition government were to offer a free vote on repeal at the present time , there would not be enough support to overturn the ban and it would fail.The leading animal welfare organisations like the RSPCA, IFAW and The League Against Cruel Sports of the UK all lobby the government to keep the ban in place to protect wildlife from unnecesary suffering of the sport of hunting with hounds.
We support aims to lobby the government for rural services, employment, broadband, housing, etc yet we do not support hunting with hounds and support the RSPCA in their stance to keep it banned and illegal. Indeed an Ipsos- MORI poll for The League Against Cruel Sports conducted in December 2009 demonstrated that 72% of people in rural communities think hunting should remain illegal.
We are often contacted by numerous Farmers and people who live in rural communities who describe the disruption that local hunts have sometimes inflicted on their land, livestock and even pets when hounds have run out of control when chasing a fox and attacked and killed domestic dogs and cats by accident. The newspapers have even reported incidents where trains have been called to a halt by hounds being found on the railway tracks and in some cases the hounds have been run over. We have also heard about rural roads being blocked by hunt follower’s cars, disrupting travel for other residents and of hounds tearing across rural roads causing cars to stop suddenly putting passengers at risk.
Earlier this year, we took a commercial sheep Farmer into the House Of Commons to meet an undecided rural Conservative MP and he could hear first hand of the misery the Farmer has experienced by his local hunt who were banned from his land. It is important that undecided MPs hear both sides of the argument from a Farmer’s perspective. Out of control hounds had rampaged across his field and he was worried that his pregant ewes would miscarry. Other Farmers have told us that their livestock have been so alarmed by hounds chasing a fleeing fox that they have miscarried and have failed to produce milk due to fear and stress. We have heard from one goat Farmer whose herd of goats have been so terrified of the hunt dogs right next to their land that they have sold their business and given up due to the goat herd failing to produce any more milk. Rural workers have described how fences have sometimes been damaged, crops trampled by hunts and chores being disrupted, not to mention the anxiety that has been experienced in dealing with the problems of hunt havoc.
Newspapers have published news items and photos of rural residents who have complained of their gardens and housing developments being invaded by baying hounds when chasing a fleeing fox and the fear their children have experienced witnessing such scenes. The photos in the papers record these incidents. Any large mob of excited barking dogs can be a frightening experience to those of us unfamilar with large packs of barking dogs. A pack of excited hunt hounds is no exception when they are out of control, as newspapers have reported on railway tracks and roads.We would not tolerate mobs of out of control domestic dogs in our urban areas and the same principle applies to our rural areas. Some rural residents have written about the stress of complaining about such scenes to their local hunts and the sometimes angry confrontations and hostile arguments they are subjected to when they object to unwanted hunts galloping across their areas. Fox hunting is illegal yet the increasing amount of convictions demonstrate that some people do continue to flout the law which bans the activity. It is the law of the land and nobody is above the law.
Many Farmers also welcome foxes since they eat wild rabbits which are the main threat to Farmer’s crops.There are over 37 million wild rabbits in the UK as opposed to only 730,000 wild hares. Their populations are declining rapidly and there were steps by the government in 1996 to double the population of brown hares by 2010 due to this concern. The Hare Preservation Trust claims that there has been no increase at all in the number of hares and their populations are very vulnerable.There are several hunts which hunt hares with dogs. It is extraordinary that the diminishing population of brown hares due to decreasing habitiats and the switch to changed crop choices etc should also be once again exposed to a return of hunting with hounds which will further threaten their vulnerable status.The ban also protects hares from hare coursing which involves two large dogs, usually greyhounds or lurchers being set upon a single small hare for the purpose of recreation.This’sport’ is totally unjustified and has no place in civilised society. Northern Ireland’s politicans made the historic decision to permanently ban hare coursing on Wednedsay 14th August 2011. It would be simply illogical for our politicans in England and Wales to reverse the ban when other goverments are working towards banning cruel sports.Hare coursing is still legal in the rest of Ireland yet there are numerous lobbying organisations working for a ban on hare coursing there and fox hunting. Hunting with stags was banned in Eire last year and was welcomed by the majority of the public.
Hunt havoc is anti social behaviour often characterised by trespass, traffic chaos and sometimes livestock and pet fataility. The problems of the incidents described above impair the lives of those unconnected with hunting.Those in the hunting community have a responsibility and a duty of care to the hounds they hunt with and to the local rural community to ensure that their minority sport does not disrupt and impact upon the majority of the public who do not engage in hunting with hounds.
As we always maintain, let’s keep moving forwards into the future and not backwards into the past. We want to share a vision for a better world and want tomorrow to be better than today. The countryside is a National asset and belongs to all of us. We love the countryside, not cruel sports.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1388622/Hunt-hounds-killed-by-train.html Telegraph- Hunt hounds killed by train
http://www.northwichguardian.co.uk/yoursay/yourletters/7989739.Hunt_is_not_above_the_law/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1240856/Residents-left-terrified-pack-hunting-hounds-goes-rampage-street-whilst-pursuing-fox.html Terrified residents whose gardens and streets were invaded by hunting hounds on the rampage. Daily Mail
http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/4838874.Hounds_killed_on_rail_track_near_Wootton_assett/ Hunt hounds killed on railway tracks
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8575497.stm pet savaged by hunt dog. BBC news
http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Pet-owner-horrified-hunt-dogs-rip-cat-apart/story-11468659-detail/story.html This Is Cornwall. Cat ripped apart by hunt dogs.
