It's time for a ban on cruel fox hunting
Dear Editor,
The suffering of foxes is sadly set to continue following a recent statement by the Agriculture Minister that he “has no plans to change the existing legislation”.
Responding to a Green Party TD who asked him to "introduce legislation to ban fox hunting", Minister Charlie McConalogue referred to "voluntary codes of practice" which, he said, "detail the conduct to be adhered to in respect of the hunting of foxes and the treatment of the animal during the hunt”.
In reality, these worthless codes do nothing to eliminate the extreme cruelty inherent in fox hunting.
Hunters unleash hounds to terrorise foxes across the countryside. When a targeted fox tires and slows down, the dogs close in for the kill.
The unfortunate fox is knocked to the ground, mauled, bitten, eviscerated and torn apart. When a fox desperately attempts to find refuge underground, terriers are sent down the hole to attack.
The clay is shovelled away from above before the squealing, injured fox is pulled out and killed.
The Animal Health and Welfare Act states that the prohibition on animal cruelty does not apply "in relation to anything which occurs in the ordinary course of...lawfully hunting an animal" but how can it be lawful to subject a fox to this abhorrent abuse? Section 12 of the same Act makes it clear that "a person shall not cause or permit anything to be done to an animal that causes unnecessary suffering to, or endangers the health or welfare of, an animal."
Fox hunting is full of unnecessary suffering and has a devastating impact on the welfare of wildlife. With the vast majority in Ireland
Philip Kiernan
Irish Council Against Blood Sports PO Box 88, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, Ireland