Foxhunting Discursive Essay

539 Words3 Pages
I am very much against foxhunting because I think it is a cruel and unnecessary. Foxhunters kill foxes only for ‘sport’ and amusement, and because of the exhaustion, terror and trauma inflicted on the victim, the death of the fox itself, is violent and painful. Foxhunters argue that foxes are pests and their numbers need to be controlled. They say that even controlled fox populations still cause problems. A survey financed by the Countryside Alliance showed that in spite of control, 30% of farmers had experienced significant losses from foxes in the preceding twelve months. This figure is supported by the research of an eminent Oxford biologist, Dr David Macdonald, who also found out that the percentage of farmers believing that foxes should be controlled varied between 82.2% in the Midlands and 96.2% in the sheep rearing districts of Exmoor. However I do not think that foxes are pests at all as most of the fox’s feeding habitats are not detrimental to farming – on the contrary, their main prey are rabbits, rats and voles, all of which are considerable pests in the 70% of farmlands given to arable production, so on one hand foxes can be benefit to the farmer. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, predation on lambs by foxes is ‘insignificant’. Studies show that even by farmers’ estimates, only one in two hundred lambs fall victim to a fox, whereas between 10% and 24% of lambs die from hypothermia, malnutrition or disease or are still-born. Foxes carry away such casualties and are often seen in the lambing fields hoping to scavage after-birth. For this season foxes are ideal scapegoats for bad husbandry or lazy shepherds. I am totally against hunting as it is a cruel way of killing a fox. Foxhunting has the same purpose as the now illegal pastimes of dog fighting, bear baiting and cockfighting, to provide amusements for
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