There has been a lot of hullabaloo in England, as you know, about fox-hunting, but also, apparently, some quieter revision going on in the same field here in Ireland. Mr David Wilkinson, chairman of the Irish Hunting Association, is quoted in The Meath Chronicle as saying he believes his people have "come a long way to satisfy some of the Department of Agriculture's requirements. This is only the start of the process and I think it will monitor us very carefully, having recognised us as a self-regulatory group." Many people will not have known of the Department's concern about fox-hunting. In fact, in these times, foxhunting is to many something from another age. We have become urbanised. Indeed, if many people think at all of cruelty to animals, they will probably have in mind the awful conditions of animals reared by the modern industrial methods. The hens in their small cages, the pigs in their own form of intensive rearing.
But there seems to be wisdom in the hunting regulations or customs being amended in the present climate. Digging out of foxes is banned, except in special cases, such as the fox being diseased, maimed or deformed. And only one terrier (did you know there were more?) will be used to locate the fox when he escapes underground. And only skilled diggers, whatever that implies, will be used to get him over-ground. There is to be no handling of the fox save as may be necessary for the humane despatchment of the fox below ground. Where possible, it says, an electronic locator should be used along with a suitable baying terrier. Very technical, but this is usually understood - in no circumstances will a live fox which has been dug out be thrown to the hounds. Also, earth-stopping, i.e. the practice of blocking holes into which the fox might escape, can be carried out only in limited circumstances. It would be interesting to know what they are.
Mr John Fitzgerald, described in the paper as an anti-hunting exponent, says the new deal is a sham and nothing has been done about cub-hunting, which he sees as the most horrible practice of all. A step in the right direction, was the verdict of spokesmen of the four Meath hunts. One said the change was long overdue. Y