Time to put an end to the savage cruelty of cub hunting
While sharing his view of dog fighting, I feel we lose sight of the fact that an equally cruel and sadistic form of “field sport” recreation is not merely legal, but commands the support of the rich and famous in society, including prominent members of the legal profession.
I refer to the sport of cub hunting or cubbing as some call it.
Since August 1, groups of well-heeled hunting fans have been out in the early hours at suitable locations in the Irish countryside in search of young fox cubs.
They surround coverts known to contain cub litters. Forming a tight circle around a covert, the mounted hunts people and other supporters on foot cut off all possible escape routes for the cubs as half-starved young hounds are sent in to flush them out.
The defenceless creatures emerge from the forested area or from the security of their underground “earths”, only to be savaged and ripped apart by the dogs. Cubs attempting to break the ring of hunters are beaten back with whips or sticks.
The purpose of cubbing is twofold: to give young hounds a taste of blood in readiness for the opening of the official hunting season in November; and to scatter the cubs that survive or escape these blooding sessions across the countryside to ensure a plentiful supply of bait for the sportspeople later on in the season.
Aside from the cruelty factor, this latter practice creates a major headache for farmers later in the year when foxes scattered by the hunts arrive on their lands seeking food.
Cubbing is every bit as high up on the Richter scale of cruelty as the dogfights and badger-baiting competitions that have earned criminal convictions for followers of these downmarket fieldsports.
Yet, the legal system favours one form of recreational killing and frowns upon the other.
Of course, wearing a red jacket and jodhpurs, and having the right connections, in addition to having the law on your side, makes all the difference when you feel the urge to inflict pain for pleasure in the countryside.
The British, who invented snob cruelty, have thankfully banned it. We, who inherited cub and fox hunting from them in darker days, should now follow their example and put and end to this abuse of our wildlife heritage.
John Fitzgerald
Lower Coyne Street
Callan
Co Kilkenny
