Stuff and Things: The Fox and the Hound

Take a look at the picture and think about what you see.

Love? Family? Do they remind you of a family pet? A member of your family? A particular person? Or do you just see animals?

As far as I'm concerned, any of those thoughts are entirely valid. Many others that didn't come to my mind straight away, will be also. The point of that exercise, ladies and gents, was to humanize these animals. Looking at them, I find that they are not dissimilar to dogs - I don't think that even the most prolific meat eater can deny that. Dogs - an animal that we would be horrified to see anything bad happen to. Look to the dog eating festival in China and how many of us from the West were disturbed, despite chickens and cows going through the same experience simply for the satisfaction of our tastebuds. The point I'm trying to make is that which animals "should" and "shouldn't" be harmed is completely arbitrary and we are conditioned to believe so, based on our culture.

Many of you will know that there is currently a ban on Fox Hunting; the Hunting Act of 2004 made it illegal to hunt wild mammals with a dog. But this week, there will be a vote on whether to repeal the act or not.

For those of you that don't know, fox hunting is where posh people dressed like utter knobheads train dogs to find and kill/rip apart red foxes for "fun". They are training dogs to be killers when the dogs know no better. Hounds kill families of foxes while they attempt to flee for their lives, it would be a terribly different situation if the foxes were training the dogs to kill the hunters and their families, eh? If a dog killed an innocent human, it would be put down, so why should we celebrate and praise dogs for killing innocent foxes?

I find it very difficult to believe that this is even an issue in this day and age. I've said before that I was under the impression that we had been educated beyond seeing the body of a mutilated animal as amusing. If that's what you find amusing, then I suggest you lock yourself in a room with some sort of gaming console because you clearly haven't ventured into the 21st Century. I'm all for children getting out in the open and getting their heads into books instead of iPads, but it seems that they need to hand their iPads to hunters who appear to not be able to find anything better to do with their lives (in an age where there is more to do for fun than kill).

The fact is, fox hunting (which originated in the 16th Century) is archaic and has no place in the UK where it is seen as cruel, barbaric and inhumane by many, many people.

We've all (hopefully) been shocked by Kendall Jones' and Rebecca Francis' pictures of their trophy hunting in Africa.

N.B. I use these examples as people are likely to know who they are NOT because they are females. I believe that they have been unfairly targeted in the media as they are attractive females and we are not accustomed to seeing attractive females hunting. For the record, this does not mean that they are any better than any other trophy hunter. They are all awful.

So WHY if we've all been so shocked by trophy hunting in Africa, are some of the leaders of our country willing to regress to this inhumane, anthropocentric practice? The answer - for "sport".

David Cameron, with whom I have little beef, because as far as Conservative leaders go, he's been OK (still a bit of a bell, but OK), has said - "I have always been a strong supporter of country sports. It is my firm belief that people should have the freedom to hunt, so I share the frustration that many people feel about the Hunting Act and the way it was brought in by the last government. The Hunting Act has done nothing for animal welfare. A Conservative Government will give Parliament the opportunity to repeal the Hunting Act on a free vote, with a government Bill in government time." One of the many reasons why I did not vote Conservative.

Of course, this view is shared by many others, I was following a car with a "Countryside Alliance" bumper sticker saying something about repealing the Fox Hunting ban. Now, while I managed to refrain from ramming into the back of the imbecile, it showed me that the people that I personally find disgusting and barbaric are not too far from home.

On the contrary, there is the organisation Blue Fox - Conservatives against Fox Hunting. These are members of the Conservative party who will be voting to keep the ban on fox hunting as they believe it is the right decision; good for animals, the countryside and society.

However, we need to do everything we can to help, so I urge you all, if you agree with me, to sign the petitions on these links to show the lack of support there is for repealing the Hunting Act.

http://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/hunting/takeaction

https://www.change.org/p/david-cameron-mp-keep-the-ban-on-fox-hunting-2?source_location=search_index&algorithm=curated_trending

AND IF YOU DON'T AGREE WITH ME watch Disney's Fox and the Hound (easily one of my favourites) and be moved by the friendship that forms between Tod and Copper. If you still do not agree, you are a lost cause and I pray you step on an upturned plug.

But all hope is not lost! Many MPs have already decided that they are going to vote against it, however very few people have predicted the outcome - based on a few votes, it is pivotal.