Is fox hunting facing the last rites in England?
ASHFORD, ENGLAND, Mar 17: The shrill blast of a horn, the frantic barking of hounds, shouts of tally-ho and the thunder of horses hooves resonate over England s green and pleasant hills. But the traditional sounds of the fox hunt may soon be silenced. In a bid to end a highly contentious debate, hunting with dogs will be put to the vote in the British Parliament tomorrow. Scotland s home-rule Parliament banned fox hunting north of the border last month. So is it a just a harmless and quaint “country pursuit” steeped in British history or is it a barbaric “blood sport”? The issue has divided a nation with countryfolk fighting to maintain the hunt and opponents baying for it to be outlawed. Fox hunting in its current horse-and-dog incarnation has been practised in Britain for more than 300 years. The hunters argue a ban would infringe their civil rights and that they provide a service to farmers who regard the fox as vermin. There are around 200 fox hunts in Britain, each of which hunt t
