What I find most objectionable about the fox hunting debate is the way the pro-hunting lobby uses Goebbels-like propaganda tactics to rewrite history in their favour. This grossly distorts public perception.
They say that fox hunting is an ancient tradition. Wrong. Fox hunting was invented late in the 18th Century by noveau-riche industrialists looking for a pleasurable way to spend their leisure time away from those dark, satanic mills of the industrial revolution.
The first book on fox hunting was penned in 1780, not by a yeoman farmer but by the scion of a banking family.
They say that hunting is necessary to minimise the damage the fox does to lambs and chickens. Rubbish.
There is ample documentary evidence that the hunt is responsible for actually breeding foxes to re-stock areas where their numbers have slumped to the detriment of "sport".
They say that the countryside will "fall apart" if hunting is banned. Claptrap.
The long term result of banning hunting will be that the pleasure seekers who are unconcerned with the real country issues will either leave it for the cities or knuckle down and start learning how to run it properly.
-Richard Prangnell, Hove
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