Editing Fox hunting (section)

== Cubbing ==
In the autumn of each year, hunts accustom the young hounds, which by now are full-size, but not yet sexually mature, to hunt and kill foxes through the practice of ''cubbing'' (also called ''cub hunting'', ''autumn hunting'' and ''entering'').<ref name=Carr>[[Raymond Carr]], ''English Fox Hunting: A History'' (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1976)</ref><ref name="Misstear">{{cite news|title= Incidents of illegal fox cubbing reported to RSPCA officers|date= 26 March 2013|author= Misstear, R. |access-date= 23 June 2016|url= http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/incidents-illegal-fox-cubbing-reported-2017327|work= Walesonline}}</ref><ref name=umad/> Cubbing also aims to teach hounds to restrict their hunting to foxes, so that they do not hunt other species such as deer or hares.<ref name="burns"/><ref name="Thomas">{{cite web|title= A veterinary opinion on hunting with hounds, Submission to the Burns Inquiry|url= http://www.vet-wildlifemanagement.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=32|author1= Thomas, L.H.|author2= Allen, W.R.|year= 2000|access-date= 20 November 2007|publisher= Veterinary Association for Wildlife Management}}</ref>

The activity sometimes incorporates the practice of ''holding up''; where hunt supporters, riders and foot followers surround a covert and drive back foxes attempting to escape, before then ''drawing'' the covert with the young hounds and some more experienced hounds, allowing them to find and kill foxes within the surrounded covert.<ref name="burns" /> A young hound is considered to be ''entered'' into the pack once they have successfully joined in a hunt of this fashion. Since one of the objectives of fox hunting is to control fox populations, cubbing is a highly effective way of reaching this{{citation needed|date=August 2023}} as more than one fox could be killed in a covert. Cubbing is also an effective way of dispersing fox populations. Young hounds which do not show sufficient aptitude may be killed by their owners or drafted to other packs, including [[mink hunting|minkhound]] packs.<ref name="Fanshawe">{{cite web|title= Future of hound breeds under threat from hunting bill|year=2003|last=Fanshawe|url= http://www.mfha.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=9|publisher=Masters of Fox Hounds Association|access-date= 11 February 2008}}</ref>

The [[Burns Inquiry]], established in 1999, reported that an estimated 10,000 fox cubs were killed annually during the cub-hunting season in Great Britain.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-08-19 |title= What Is Cubbing?|url=https://www.thecanary.co/discovery/analysis-discovery/2018/08/19/the-most-grotesque-part-of-hunting-season-begins-fox-cubs-are-torn-apart-for-sport/ |access-date=2022-06-08 |website= The Canary |language=en-GB}}</ref> Cub hunting is now illegal in Great Britain,<ref>
{{cite web
| url          = https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/incidents-illegal-fox-cubbing-reported-2017327
| title        = Incidents
| last         = Misstear
| first        = Rachael
| date         = 26 March 2013
| website      = WalesOnline
| access-date  = 7 January 2023
| quote        = RSPCA inspector Keith Hogben said [...] 'The practice is entirely illegal under the [[Hunting Act 2004]].'
}}
</ref>
although anti-hunt associations maintain that the practice continues.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=What is cubbing? |url=https://www.keeptheban.uk/faqs/what-is-cubbing |access-date=2022-08-19 |website=Keep The Ban |language=en-GB |archive-date=19 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819102933/https://www.keeptheban.uk/faqs/what-is-cubbing }}</ref>{{request quotation|date=January 2023}}