Is it time for MPs to ban fox-hunting?

YES - says York-based RSPCA Chief Inspector Paul Stilgoe

THE RSPCA is calling for a total ban on fox-hunting because it is too barbaric an activity to be sanctioned by a modern society. I have seen a number of carcasses of foxes that were killed by hounds. It is not a pretty sight. Their stomachs are ripped out, their chests crushed, their throats ripped open. It is not quick, it is very painful and it is terrifying for the animal concerned. And it's not only foxes. Domestic cats, deer, hares and mink - a whole range of animals are killed in this way.

There is concern at times about the way the hounds are treated, too. They get lost or left behind, injured on roads and railway lines and at the end of their useful hunting life they are just shot.

One of the reasons given by the hunts for preserving fox hunting is that it is necessary to control the fox population. But one of the important things that the Burns Inquiry (set up by the Government to assess the arguments for and against hunting) showed is that fox hunting has very little effect on the fox population. It is actually a very poor way of controlling foxes.

There always have to be predators at the top of the food chain - that's the way it works. But there are steps that can be taken to protect poultry and lambs. If poultry are secured and lambing is done indoors, that would remove a food source for the foxes.

It's in the first week after lambing the animals are most susceptible. The ewe doesn't mind where it gives birth, and if it is indoors, the lambing can be monitored.

Also, if you lamb outside the afterbirth is left lying around, which is bound to attract predators. Farmers should take responsibility for their stock rather than just killing foxes.

The Countryside Alliance exaggerates the potential effect of a fox-hunting ban on rural employment. But the Burns Inquiry showed that the number of jobs lost would be very low. It proved that a ban on fox-hunting would not have the effect on the countryside that the Countryside Alliance is predicting.

The RSPCA is not against the countryside. We work in the countryside and we are for the countryside. We want it to be there, for us and for wildlife. We just want it to be managed in a humane way.

It is argued that fox-hunting is part of a traditional country way of life. But so was bear-baiting once, and dog fighting. Society has moved on from that. We learn from the past, we learn from history - we don't have to continue with cruel practices simply for nostalgic reasons.

We believe that it is very important a total ban is imposed. We're not in favour of a watered-down compromise where hunting would be allowed under licence. It has to be banned completely, so that we can stop animals being killed in this cruel way.

NO - says John Haigh, Yorkshire spokesman for the Countryside Alliance

The British fox is an opportunist predator, which kills poultry, new-born lambs and piglets, as well as young hares and wild ground-nesting birds. Its population needs to be kept in balance. All involved in countryside management recognise this, and most importantly farmers believe this to be the case, as shown by a recent consultation of National Farmers Union members.

New farmers will want to see the fox exterminated, but those who support hunting are more inclined to tolerate foxes on their land, as long as their numbers are controlled.

Foxhunting, by its nature, takes out the old, sick and injured foxes, and there is no risk of wounding. Hounds follow the scent of a fox which may be quite some distance away. Like all wild animals when threatened, the fox attempts to put an adequate "flight distance" between itself and a potential enemy: a natural survival instinct. If the fox is caught, it is killed extremely quickly by the lead hound, which has a weight of five times that of the fox.

The Burns Inquiry concluded hunting is no less humane than other practical alternatives such as shooting and snaring. It is also the only form of fox control that recognises a closed season, in which mothers and young are left alone.

A ban on hunting would mean thousands of rural job losses. Furthermore, some 14,000 foxhounds would have no future as these working pack dogs do not make suitable pets, and animal rescue centres are already overflowing with homeless dogs. Without hunting, there would be less incentive for farmers to conserve wildlife habitat.

David Bellamy, the renowned conservationist, says: "While we have hunting, shooting and fishing interests in this country we will have better landscape management. Without these interests, Britain would have become a prairie landscape."

It is not just hunt supporters who are concerned about the welfare of the fox after a hunting ban. Jim Barrington, former executive director of the League Against Cruel Sports, says: "The trouble is that people see pictures of cowering foxes, feel sympathy for the fox, and then immediately conclude that foxhunting should be banned. There's no real thought about what effect such a ban would in fact have on foxes. Of course, what would happen would be that far more would be shot, trapped and gassed."

And draghunting is no answer, according to the Masters of Drag and Bloodhounds Association themselves. They strongly refute claims that draghunting is an alternative to fox hunting. Draghunting is an exciting equestrian sport in its own right, but is totally different to any other type of hound sport, they say. It plays no role in the management of the red fox, which many farmers regard as a pest.

So who will gain from a ban on hunting? Not country people, thousands of whom would lose their jobs with many more losing their way of life. Not the farmer, who would have to find other, more time consuming and expensive, ways to control foxes, nor wildlife habitat, significant areas of which are maintained because of hunting. And most importantly not the fox, which will be controlled more vigorously than ever.

The only winners would be the anti-hunt lobby, who would move on to their next target, be it shooting, fishing or falconry.