Fox-hunt ban ignored

last updated 8 January 2015

London

Britons are brazenly flouting the ban on using dogs to hunt foxes. The law was passed a year and a half ago after animal-rights groups argued that it was inhumane to let a pack of hounds tear a living fox to pieces. At the time, hunt clubs said the move not only would destroy the centuries-old tradition of riding behind the hounds, but also would eliminate the jobs of thousands of horse and dog breeders, saddle makers, hunt costumiers, and others. It hasn’t turned out that way. Public outrage over the ban has actually inspired people who never hunted before to take up the sport, the London Independent reported. This year, in fact, there have been more hunts, with more participants, than ever before. Police in rural areas simply look the other way.