Foxes worse off

last updated 8 January 2015

London

A nationwide ban on using dogs to hunt foxes has resulted in more, not less, suffering, Britain’s Animal Welfare journal reported this week. The traditional English hunt, in which dogs chase a fox while horseback riders follow, was outlawed last year. Activists argued that being torn to pieces by a pack of hounds was needlessly cruel to foxes. Instead, the foxes are now being shot. But new research shows that up to half of the animals shot with guns are only wounded, not killed outright, and they die a slow and painful death. “Shooting does not reduce suffering,” said Lembit Opik, a member of Parliament. “After all, with dogs it’s all or nothing.” Legislators opposed to the ban said they would present the new findings to Parliament.