Fox Hunting Debate

As a growing girl, me and my father would spend time together like any normal parent and child. I can safely say he taught me the most important things in life; how to shoot pigeons, rabbits and ducks (and yes believe it or not, there is a difference in how they move). Though I can safely say I never have (and never will) shoot a living animal, I have been brought up with the knowledge from my farmer father that certain animals are pests if they enter your land, steal your crops or affect your livestock.
However, fox hunting is where the lines get blurred, and then crossed.
Of course there is the ongoing and highly controversial debate over repealing the five year ban on fox hunting. David Cameron has promised a free vote on the subject if he becomes prime minister; which is worrying since a recent survey showed that out of 120 Tory candidates in marginal seats, only 1 was against the idea of repealing the ban.
Yet the argument for reviving this prehistoric tradition is invalid.
Those for it claim that fox hunting is mandatory. It's needed to control numbers of those pesky foxes, the hunt is good for the countryside and Martin Tod even argued that the sport is actually kinder to the animal because it kills them instantly.
In a nutshell, these men on their high horses hide behind their top hats and bluff their way into making people believe they have the animals best interest at heart.
Which when thought about logically, is the kind of irony you can't make up.
The foxes being hunted have potentially never entered anyones land being so far out in the country (some just cubs), they have caused no harm yet they are subjected to being dug from their homes by terriers, chased endlessly for miles before being hopelessly torn to shreds. It's a self proclaimed sport, the word sport defining the idea of an activity done for fun.
The debate is still continuing and I strongly hope it remains just a debate, there will always be people against something or other, it's just a case of keeping their beliefs illegal for the sake of the 21st century.
All I can say is those who wish to repeal the ban have clearly never watched The Fox and the Hound.