Too frosty for horses at Fife Foxhounds' festive hunt
Fife foxes can sleep easily in their dens this year after the traditional Boxing Day hunt was cancelled due to the weather.
Riders on a fox hunt near Logie Estates, Cupar.
- By Aileen Robertson
- Published in the Courier : 24.12.10
- Published online : 24.12.10 @ 03.19pm
Plummeting temperatures have meant the ground is too frosty to bring out the horses this year, so the Fife Foxhounds are holding a social gathering instead.
Because the group does not hunt on a Sunday, the event will take place this year on the Monday after Boxing Day.
They will meet on December 27 at Hilton House, Cupar, at 11am. There will be a collection for the Help for Heroes charity.
Fife Foxhounds date back 200 years and hunt around north-east Fife.
Although opposed by animal rights activists, fox hunting is within the law as long as the animals are not mauled to death by hounds.
The Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 states that using dogs to "flush out" foxes from cover is acceptable as long the foxes are humanely shot and the hunter is acting to control a species with the permission of the landowner.
Liz Bell, honorary secretary of Fife Foxhounds, said, "Since the ban we have had to adapt and how we've adapted is by carrying out fox control, or vermin control, at the landowner's permission.
"Before the ban we would hunt them over hill and dale but now the foxes have to be flushed to guns."
She added, "A lot of people have come along to the Boxing Day hunt in previous years. It's a great spectacle. But this year it's too frosty for the horses to be out.
"It's a chance for families to get together over the Christmas period and get some fresh air and a walk. People can come along and watch the spectacle and have a chat."
Mrs Bell said the hounds would be coming along on Monday for a runabout.
04.10pm - 24.12.2010 Valentyna Robertson (Mrs) - Perth, Scotland Report This
How wrong can the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 be. Shooting an animal is NOT humane - it is a slow agonising death. The hounds KNOW how to kill and it is done quickly WITHOUT any pain.<br /> It was illegal to ban coursing by greyhounds and lurchers. These do-gooders know NOTHING.
02.48pm - 26.12.2010 mhayworth - Fife , UK Report This
There would be no need to 'control' foxes if the hunts would stop creating artificial earths to breed their quarry. I'm glad the weather has stopped this appalling practice. What type of monster salivates over terrifying and killing animals during the holiday season? Time to move on!
10.18pm - 03.01.2011 JB - Glenrothes, Fife Report This
In my recollection Fife Hunt were never particularly good at getting any foxes - with usually the hounds going one way and the fox going clearly in the opposite direction. I doubt things have improved and more gamekeepers shoot foxes than the Hunt ever gets.
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