Let nature decide the kill - so allow hunting (From Gazette Series)

Let nature decide the kill - so allow hunting

SIR - Like many people in the countryside, I feed the fox every night and can watch it within two yards of my window. Despite this, I support fox hunting. The fox is a lovely animal but it is also a killer. It can wreak havoc in a farmyard and at lambing time. If it gets in amongst the hens, it does not kill one, it kills the lot.

The fox is the only animal in Britain without a predator since we no longer have wolves in this country. I would much rather have it killed by another animal, which is natures way, than think of it half shot, writhing in agony through poisoning or tearing itself to bits, trying to free itself from a snare. The last two are dangerous for domestic animals. After all, the fox chases and kills other animals.

Two instances convinced me that the kill is instant. I forced myself to watch the kill on a wildlife programme - a tiger chasing a gazelle. As the tiger carried it away by the back of the neck, there was not even a twitch left in the gazelle. The second occurred when I was exercising a labrador in the woods. He dashed off in hot pursuit of a squirrel. I dashed along the path, calling the dog. I heard a squeak, arrived at the scene seconds later. Chester looked in my direction and then down at the squirrel which was stone dead in front of him. There was not a twitch in its body, its eyes were open and it was in the standing position. He had grabbed it by the back of the neck which is nature's way of killing.

A lot of argument revolves around 'dressing up'. Hunting is dangerous. The clothing is protective - a padded hat or cap, the stock to protect the neck from a fall, long boots to protect the legs and weatherproof jacket and jodhpurs. The red jackets identify the huntsmen. All the different activities have the appropriate clothing.

There is a problem with the urban foxes in Bristol. When wheelie bins were introduced for collecting the rubbish the foxes went into decline and contracted the mange which was a danger to dogs. It is a horrible disease to see in an animal.

In countries, other than Britain, humans are doing the killing and the animal is disadvantaged - bull fighting, shooting migrating birds, bear baiting and the donkey spectacle they have in Spain.

In nature, on the land, in the sea and in the sky, one species preys upon another which is my argument against banning foxhunting with dogs.

To know what 'social inclusion' really means, go to a meet of foxhounds where you will see among rich and poor, men and women, children and animals, an inimitable, unforced togetherness. It would be said if misunderstanding and prejudice were to spoil it.

Dreena Menelaws, Byron Road, Dursley