Hunts are way of life (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Hunts are way of life

8:49am Tuesday 20th July 2010 in Readers' letters

SIR – Your correspondent John Rolls of the RSPCA (T&A, July 10) is way off the mark when he labels hunting with dogs a ‘cruel’ sport. Hounds have hunted since time immemorial, as has man.

The best way to keep down vermin is by natural means. Surely this is better than shooting creatures, or poisoning and trapping. In these cases, the animal dies a lingering death, often in immense pain.

As far as hunting foxes is concerned, the fox itself is a hunter, nature’s killing machine. Not from need, but a malicious blood-lust.

Ask the farmer who finds his new-born lambs massacred on the hillside. Or the poultry keeper who discovers the headless bodies in his hen coop. And above all, have a few words with the parents of the children who were mauled in a London suburb.

I’m sorry, I have no sympathy for the fox, a creature no better than a serial killer. He has no natural predator – as most creatures have – except the hunting hound.

I love all God’s creatures, but it is far better for the fox to end its life by natural means, such as by another creature.

But in this day and age, when the murderer is elevated to ‘victim’ status, perhaps these animal rights people would rather we tried ‘counselling’ and ‘rehabilitation’ for the fox, too!

Mrs Pamela B McCallum, Albert Street, Thornton, Bradford