Ban on Hunting imminent?

[Ron Martin]

SKY NEWS Sunday September 5, 07:26 PM
Labour 'To Push Through Hunting Ban'
The Government is to force through a ban on hunting within the next few weeks, it's claimed. Anti-hunt MPs say they have been given "very clear assurances" from ministers that a bill to outlaw foxhunting would be put to MPs in the next two weeks.

Well lads, and lasses, here we go again!
Just you wait and see, there's probably some govermental crap about to hit the political fan and the anti-hunting furore is going to be the smoke screen!
What me? Cynical? Naahhh.

 

[Baz]

Ron,
According to the news last week, this is a position that has been forced on the government. Rumor has it that it won't be a total ban, but one with restrictions.
One spokesperson for the Cheshire forrest hunt gave a pretty poor defence for foxhunting.
When asked why does a fox run away from the hounds, is it thinking oh goody I haven't had a good run for ages, his reply was, that it is instinct for them to run away.
This all entails hunting with dogs. Which includes hair courseing. The aim of this so called sport is to see how many times the dog can make the hare turn.
My own argument for this is then why don't the dogs wear mussles? or is the hair squeeling with delight when it is caught?
Most hunting done on horseback is purely businessmen rubbing shoulders and nothing else.
As Oscar Wilde said, The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable.

 

[Baz]

Another thing,
When asked why not get somebody to shoot the foxes as it would be quicker, the huntsman said because it would cost too much.
Rubbish, there are plenty of people who belong to gun clubs and are perfectly good shots, who are allways on the lookout for shooting rights. As I said he gave a very poor defence.

 

[The Monk]

I`ll believe it when I see it!

 

[Ron Troversial Clay]

OK, a hunting ban will inevitably go through.

How is it going to be policed? The police have far too much on their hands than to spend time stopping a few people and dogs chasing a fox.

Most people I know who live in this area who hunt foxes tell me they will carry on doing it and b...ks to the Labour Party, police (some who fox hunt are police officers) Blair and all the rest.

 

[Baz]

Exactly Ron, this is the one reason it will never face an outright ban.

 

[Ryan "Ribblecraft" Turner]

The point is that nobody has the right to stop hunters hunting. They are not harming anyone, you dont have to watch and other than sentimentality and the cuddly, furry animal b******s, there aint any reason to stop it. The same people who are spouting on about cruelty have probably got fridges full off battery eggs and take their kids to mc d's every week!

 

[Shrek]

Good job we haven't got anything like THIS then

 

[Graham Whatmore]

What else would you expect from a labour party made up of shop stewards, ex communist party members and ban the bomb relics.

What really worries me is that they get in for another term, then the mucky stuff will really hit the fan. They will interpret it as having carte blanche to do just about anything they want from hiking taxes to banning anything that might be pleasurable, including fishing.

Make no mistake this ban on hunting will go through for sure by fair means or foul and then the pressure will really be on us. Its the obvious logical step for the anti's and I have no doubt that the labour government will cave in to their pressure, they always do.

 

[Ron Troversial Clay]

Exactly Graham.

That's why I have never supported the Labour Party.

Fishing is not safe with them.

 

[Mel Crighton]

I know that this is not about hunting but did anyone see the interview on GMTV about urban redevelopment......HULL in particular was highlighted and who's the M.P for Hull.......will he's fat and known as slugger.....John TwoJabs Prescott..say no more.

 

[Baz]

I would have thought that whippet racing and hare coursing were his roots. Along with dog fights and cock fighting.

 

[Nigel Moors 2]

This might well p**s some people off but foxhunting is sodding cruel! They can like Baz says be shot, they are a load of don't give a sod ignoramus's. The political side of the argument is immaterial as both sides of the house have pro's and anti's.

The worry as to how a ban might affect us shouldn't even be a threat. If angling could get its bloody act together it could resist any attempt to ban it. We have many many more participants in our sport than hunters do. I am sure that I'm not alone in saying that I don't want any sort of alliance strategy or sympathy wise with the hunting fraternity. That WILL bring anti attention our way..

Incidentally I'm not a woolly townie either, I have lived all my life as a countryside dwelling villager. I've always thought that the ripping apart of an animal is cruel and always will do. If a fox is being a pest then let the 'victim' shoot it.

As for Bed Ronder's viewpoint I'm astonished. Simply saying that no-one has the right to stop them is not on. If any section of our society suddenly decided it was sport to shoot spawning fish when visible on shallows, catch shoals of bream, barbel or pike in nets and throw them up over the bank for no other reason than 'it's good sport', then I think there'd be an outcry. We'd soon want someone to stop that wouldn't we?

 

[jason fisher]

some one did exactly that nigel, he's called peter collins.
if foxes have to be controled then they should be shot with a very high powered rifle.
bear baiting, badger baiting, cock fighting, were all outlawed buecause just like fox baiting they were cruel to the animals involved.
the one difference between bear baiting, badger baiting, cock fighting and fox hunting was the latter was the preserve of the landed gentry and no government of the past would take away the entertainment of those who were in power.
i feel no afinity with fox hunters i do not stand with them united, the sooner they go away the better the world will be.
that does however mean that we will then face the antis calling for our sport to be banned, we have already made the mistake of allowing some misguided fools to associate fishing with the countryside alliance, At that point those people doomed fishing to the same fate as foxhunting.

 

[Graham Whatmore]

I have no doubt whatsoever that there is a majority in the government who have no opinion on whether fishing is cruel or not cruel, should be banned or not banned. Add these to the ineffectuals that go with whatever trend happens to be in vogue at the time plus the anti fishing members and its not hard to see how small the pro-fishing lobby is.

The effectiveness of the anti brigade is there for all to see in what is happening to hunting, due mainly to the fact that they are organised. Once they turn their attention to angling I'm afraid that we're in for a very rough ride.

The match boys will be the first targets, as they have been in the past, but the protests will be more intense and violence will be a part of this. Old men and youngsters fishing alone will also come under pressure and anti's have used violence towards these groups before, violence is part of their strategy, and they are easy targets.

A bit over the top? Don't you believe it, the hunting fraternity will vouch for that.

 

[John Jones]

What really gets my goat is the way that huntin' shootin n fishin' is all said in one breath by the anti's. Its pre- determined stealth, condemnation by association. No matter what the rights and wrongs of hunting with dogs, we all know it's a million miles removed from fishing, yet because of this deliberate word association, joe public ( and many thick MP's) gets the impression they are one and the same.

Not only that, fishing is done no favours by the association with guns. We've all seen those shops selling 'guns and fishing tackle'. Look in any business telephone directory, 'guns and angling supplies' are listed together. This is manna from heaven for the anti's. Guns are intended to kill and maim, so the public subconsciously fails to differentiate between the two.

True, our sport entails the pursuit of a living creature. But it is not a 'blood' sport as the Greens and the 'anti anything that involves pleasure' brigade, would have others believe. How can it be classed a blood sport when the object is capture and preservation of the quarry without any blood at all. Yet the constant association of angling with other vastly different forms and methods of hunting, leads the non-thinking and just plain thick, to believe it is just that.

I have said before there is no need to get paranoid, we have right and on our side, but there is little doubt that once (if) fox hunting is banned or restricted, the anti's will turn their attention to us. They are a tiny minority but they are vociferous. It is up to us to shout louder than them.

 

[Baz]

Many councils encourage youngsters into fishing through angling clubs, as part of the community. In other words it encourages dicipline through the match fishing sections, and discourages bad behaviour, and gets the kids off the streets so to speak.
I really can't see the antis getting very far as towards banning angling.

 

[John Jones]

I agree wholeheartedly Baz. I have said for years that if fishing was made part of the school curriculum, vandalism and anti social behaviour would be cut a stroke. I once wrote to an education minister suggesting this. Never had a reply.

And yes, once any threat to our sport becomes real, the angling fraternity WILL get organised. There are millions of us and perhaps a couple of hundred activists. If this government think they've had problems trying to get fox hunting banned, just try banning angling. The phrase ' you aint seen nuthin yet' wont be adequate.

 

[Baz]

The antis will allways try to disrupt in the least John, as they have done in the past. But personally I think there are far too many people against their ideas for them to get anywhere. Parents as well as anglers for instance.

I do think fox hunting with dogs should be banned though. I have mixed with some of these people, and their reasons for fox hunting is deplorable. One once said to me, (we like to do our killing in peace)
another landowner said, I will have to get the gunsmith in to get rid of the foxes, as it is quicker, but don't let the hunts people know about it.

 

[Ron Troversial Clay]

One must be very careful here. I am an all round angler and fish a great deal for trout. In many of the waters I fish, catch and release of trout is not allowed with very good reason.

As a result I take my trout home, either give them away or eat them myself. As a result, blood is involved.

Strangely enough a lot of the antis do not object to killing the fish you catch for the table. What they do object to is the use of fish as "playthings", ie returning them after cature to be caught again for our pleasure.

To me, angling has always been another form of hunting. Angling has its roots in hunting make no mistake.