Why do people still hunt foxes?
Fox hunting has been taking place for hundreds of years. Hunting with hounds, originated in England in the sixteenth century, and continued in a similar format until February 2005, when the 2004 Hunting Act came into place banning the activity in England and Wales.
Hunts today still want the public to believe that fox hunting, and associated activities, are an important part of British countryside culture.
Fox Hunting History
It is believed that the desire to track, chase and kill a fox originated in the sixteenth century from one landowner’s attempt to catch a fox using farm dogs. Foxes were regarded as vermin by most farmers and landowners, and were therefore hunted for many years as a form of pest control.
It wasn’t until the eighteenth century that fox hunting developed into its current state. Its inception was probably an addition to stag and hare hunting, where they used the same hounds to catch each quarry. Fox hunting was later classed as a sport in its own right because of the UK’s declining deer population and developed into a national upper-class pastime.
Chief Whip
The word ‘whip’ within today’s Parliament dates back to 18th-century hunting terminology. In Parliament an MP is given the name ‘Chief Whip’, and it is that MP’s role to inform the Prime Minister of any issues with the backbench or party opinions. The name derives from ‘Whipper-in’ which refers to a huntsman’s assistant who drives straying hounds back to the main pack using a whip.
Hunting Today
Traditional fox hunting was banned in England and Wales under the 2004 Hunting Act and banned in Scotland two years previous under the Wild Mammals Protection (Scotland) Act 2002.
These hunting acts prohibit the hunting of wild mammals with dogs and were brought in to prevent or reduce the unnecessary suffering to wild animals, stating that ‘causing suffering to animals for sport is unethical’.
Despite the legislation in England, Wales, and Scotland, there is continual evidence that indicates that hunts are illegally hunting wild foxes. Our own ‘Hunting: A Case for Change‘ Report which looked at the 2022/23 ‘season’ found hundreds of examples online.
Protect the Wild is campaigning for the introduction of a new Bill to replace the Hunting Act and remove the loopholes and exemptions that enable hunting to break the law. Our Hunting of Mammals Bill would end hunting for good and consign it to the history books.
Despite the introduction of the 2004 Hunting Act (England and Wales) and the Wild Mammals Protection (Scotland) Act 2002, fox hunting is still legal in Northern Ireland.,
