Few traditions in Great Britain make arguments as passionate as fox hunting. The opponents see it as a “blood sport” – proponents brusquely reject it.
London – yapping dogs chase past hedges, a fox runs away through meadows and fields, with a horde of riders in bright red jackets on his heels. A familiar image in the British countryside for centuries.
Also this year the hunting clubs will swarm out again soon. But instead of a fox, the pack races after a scent trail – the hunt for live animals has been banned in England since 2005. Animal rights activists, however, do not go far enough. They are calling for stricter laws: “Fox hunting is a brutal blood sport that belongs in the history books,” says Chris Luffingham of the League Against Cruel Sports organization.
The problem from the point of view of the “Federation against Cruel Sports”, as the German translation reads: By following an artificial fox track, the trained dogs keep looking for real foxes – and incite them to death, contrary to the law. In every season, numerous cases are reported, so the hunting opponents and call for imprisonment as a deterrent.
Foxes roam even around Buckingham Palace
The proponents oppose it: Since the ban, clubs have spent 250,000 days with legal trail hunting, as animalless trail hunting is called, and only a fraction of them have been violated. Rather, it is important that there are numerous jobs in the hunting industry, and local restaurants and farmers also benefit. Hunters could also help reduce the “overpopulation” of foxes. In London, the animals are a common sight, even roaming around Buckingham Palace.
In Germany, the so-called par force hunt was banned by the Nazis in the 1930s. Today, only drag hunts take place, for example on a prepared foxtail. For many Brits, however, hunting is still a cherished tradition, even if it is often primarily a leisure activity of the upper class – solely because of the maintenance of the animals.
The finely dressed riders, who have to adhere to a clear dress code, are only part of the hunting party. Other participants and onlookers follow the horses in cars and on foot. According to the Countryside Alliance, which supports “land sports” such as hunting, 40,000 people are regularly involved. The fox hunt is only one part, the 12th of August is celebrated every year – the “Glorious Twelfth”, the grandiose twelfth – as the start of the grouse hunt.
But the hunters are now under intense pressure. During the most recent season, ITV revealed that at a webinar leading members of a hunting club had admitted that trail hunting was only used to cover up the actual deadly hunt for wild animals – exactly the accusation that animal rights activists always make.
As a consequence, the organization National Trust, which looks after numerous nature reserves, has now suspended permission for trail hunting. One wants to calmly weigh all positions in a “strongly polarized and passionate debate”.
First, however, the halali continues. So-called cubbing, where young dogs are trained, starts at the end of August. Once they were chased on inexperienced young foxes, now it is important for them to follow tracks too. However, opponents of hunting also sharply criticize this practice. It will probably not be the last time that animal welfare and tradition in Great Britain vie for the sovereignty of interpretation. dpa
