How do you propose to stop the hounds killing the fox when they get it's scent? Ask nicely? It'd be nice to think that they'd all hang round quietly & let you shoot it, but when they call it 'nature red in tooth & claw', they ain't kidding.
Personally I'd like to see them stop getting run over as well, but most people see it as the owners responsibility to keep pets off the road, not the drivers.
And it may happen, but in 20 years of association with our local hunt it hasn't happened once to my knowledge so it isn't exactly frequent...
Most of the complaints the villagers seemed to have with the hunt (near where I used to live) was that they would storm through their gardens occasionally leaving huge great hoof prints all over the lawn!
Really? That's a poorly organised hunt then, and the complaint is perfectly valid. I know that our local hunt is scrupulous about paying for any and all damage caused, and avoiding private property.
Sounds like yours is better organised than our local one was (back in a village called Henham in Essex) it always seemed to be more of a fashion show for the riders and horses anyway.
Genuine village people around here don't want hunting and would much rather something was done about housing, transport, employment and telecommunications (Farms are diversifying).
Hunting is by and large enjoyed by middle class townies enjoying 'The country life' and landed, inbred gentry.
The stereotypes are, largely, true.
Hounds are cruel, that's the major beef with it. Any environmental or animal campaigner worth their FOTE membership knows that culls etc are necessary. If there are worries about livestock (and it's only really lambs and chickens) then a little sensible precaution is all that's really required.
It's a barbaric pursuit that does NOT enjoy the support of people in the country and frankly we're sick of it hijacking the important discussions that need to be had and the CA's insistence on it being part and parcel of their agenda.
I haven't a clue what people in your neck of the woods are like (inbred, in light of some of your previous comments?) but I know of no 'townies' in any hunt I've ever been associated with. I suspect that the proximity to the capital skews the demographic & you get the city boys down or somehting. In my experience, other parts of the country which aren't so London-centric have a much more local & inclusive demographic.
would much rather something was done about housing, transport, employment and telecommunications
Well, that's their elected representatives job, at regional level, largely. How that has any relationship to people pounding about on horseback at their own expense is beyond me. Except inasmuch as the current administration has noticed that the politics of envy is a great lightning rod and draws a lot of attention away from real issues such as you list above.
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Re:
Date: 2002-12-17 02:53 am (UTC)It'd be nice to think that they'd all hang round quietly & let you shoot it, but when they call it 'nature red in tooth & claw', they ain't kidding.
no subject
Date: 2002-12-17 02:59 am (UTC)Or well trained dogs that are trained to flush out animals, rather than fox hounds which are trained for flushing and killing.
Well, one of the things they'd quite like...
Date: 2002-12-17 05:25 am (UTC)Oh yes, it happens.
Re: Well, one of the things they'd quite like...
Date: 2002-12-17 05:36 am (UTC)And it may happen, but in 20 years of association with our local hunt it hasn't happened once to my knowledge so it isn't exactly frequent...
Re: Well, one of the things they'd quite like...
Date: 2002-12-17 05:41 am (UTC)Re: Well, one of the things they'd quite like...
Date: 2002-12-17 05:52 am (UTC)I know that our local hunt is scrupulous about paying for any and all damage caused, and avoiding private property.
Re: Well, one of the things they'd quite like...
Date: 2002-12-17 05:55 am (UTC)Re: Well, one of the things they'd quite like...
Date: 2002-12-17 05:58 am (UTC)A bit like the Cam with horses, really.
Re: Well, one of the things they'd quite like...
Date: 2002-12-17 05:31 pm (UTC)Genuine village people around here don't want hunting and would much rather something was done about housing, transport, employment and telecommunications (Farms are diversifying).
Hunting is by and large enjoyed by middle class townies enjoying 'The country life' and landed, inbred gentry.
The stereotypes are, largely, true.
Hounds are cruel, that's the major beef with it. Any environmental or animal campaigner worth their FOTE membership knows that culls etc are necessary.
If there are worries about livestock (and it's only really lambs and chickens) then a little sensible precaution is all that's really required.
It's a barbaric pursuit that does NOT enjoy the support of people in the country and frankly we're sick of it hijacking the important discussions that need to be had and the CA's insistence on it being part and parcel of their agenda.
Fuck 'em in their chinless heads.
Re: Well, one of the things they'd quite like...
Date: 2002-12-18 02:24 am (UTC)would much rather something was done about housing, transport, employment and telecommunications
Well, that's their elected representatives job, at regional level, largely. How that has any relationship to people pounding about on horseback at their own expense is beyond me. Except inasmuch as the current administration has noticed that the politics of envy is a great lightning rod and draws a lot of attention away from real issues such as you list above.