12/21/24
September 15, 2004
Fox hunting is now illegal in England.: House of Commons votes to outlaw centuries-old sport of hunting foxes with hounds.
posted by worldcup2002 to culture at 06:06 PM - 11 comments
It isn't a sport.
posted by dng at 06:14 PM on September 15, 2004
Apologies, stuartmm and all Brits. On further reading, the ban does need to be passed by the House of Lords to become law. And it probably won't go into effect until July 2006. So it looks like at least 1.5 -2 more years of fox killing for fun. Unless, of course the Parliament Act is invoked. This Parliament Act thing, is it automatic, then? It's been used for bringing Nazi war criminals to trial, to move England to be part of Euro Parliament Elections, and lower the age of homosexual consent (?!). I guess adding fox-hunting ban to that list would be equally historic, huh.
posted by worldcup2002 at 06:20 PM on September 15, 2004
It looks like it is always used for things associated with the English upper classes :-)
posted by stuartmm at 07:12 PM on September 15, 2004
I think Mickey Fitzsimmons, singer for the old British Oi band the Business, put it best. He was talking about their song Sabotage the Hunt and is quoted as saying: No bones about this one at all - any wanker who sticks on a silly red jacket and stupid black hat and charges around the countryside with a pack of hounds after a solitary fox deserves a fucking good hiding. That just about sums it up for me.
posted by Ufez Jones at 07:15 PM on September 15, 2004
Not a sport. Though I think battering pro-hunt demonstrators with truncheons should be.
posted by squealy at 08:43 AM on September 16, 2004
It's a good day for civilization.
posted by vito90 at 11:05 AM on September 16, 2004
Dammit - first the NHL and now fox hunting. Sigh.
posted by kokaku at 01:58 PM on September 16, 2004
I'm a proponent of banning all hunting activities. And firearms. And censors. Ban the censors!
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 05:38 PM on September 16, 2004
Mickey Fitzsimmons is obviously no Oscar Wilde. He called fox hunting 'The unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible'.
posted by owlhouse at 01:24 AM on September 17, 2004
An article from a (what looks to me) animal protection group, Ark Online, also has this Quicktime movie of a fox hunt. Violent footage. But that's what the hunt is about.
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:21 PM on September 17, 2004
Well it will be illegal in a year , the ban only becomes immediate if the Parliament act is used so the supporters can go on ripping foxes to bits for a year with packs of dogs or lose that "right" immediately if they force a block in the House of Lords.