Letter: Fox hunting article failed to portray this cruel, barbaric act

As with many of your past articles on the subject, this article is shamelessly and distastefully propagandist in favour of fox hunting. Both the text and the pictures – more of which were online – expressed only artificial civility. It failed to include the inhumane truths behind the act.

I propose, for the sake of unbiased, if not ethical journalism, that you have a front page article which includes pictures showing the hunted fox in its exhausted state and deepest fear, and of the animal being killed, and not just to the ill-assuring words of pro-hunt Julian Hill. The article also creates an impression that fox hunting and its support is abundant. This is not the case, but is maintained only by a minority and more than 80 per cent of the population are against it.

In contest also to Julian Hill, fox hunting is not a sport. A sport is a competition between two consenting parties, ideally with fair approach. I'm sure the fox would in no way consent to being hunted in this way, and to have people, horses, dogs and guns against a single fox could not be less equal. Fox hunting is more accurately a form of bullying and persecution, at best.

Comments that fox hunting is necessary to keep the fox population down is false. Fox sets are artificially created by people within hunting circles, to encourage breeding. The hunting law is regularly broken across the country, with visual evidence often recorded showing foxes being torn apart by large numbers of dogs.

Hounds are not natural killers, they are trained to do so, and regularly kill domestic animals such as cats and dogs during hunting. Peaceful protesters against this behaviour are regularly assaulted and hospitalised by extremely violent hunt stewards, as they are called.

Fox hunting is a barbaric act of human history, perpetuated by the wealthy. Your support on such an act is morally corrupt.

Mr S Matthews

Bridgnorth