Editing Fox hunting (section)

===Animal welfare and animal rights===
Many [[animal welfare]] groups, campaigners and [[activists]] believe that fox hunting is unfair and cruel to animals.<ref name=bbccruel/> They argue that the chase itself causes fear and distress and that the fox is not always killed instantly as is claimed. [[Animal rights]] campaigners also object to hunting (including fox hunting), on the grounds that animals should enjoy some basic rights (such as the right to freedom from exploitation and the right to life).<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Uncaged|title=The universal declaration of animal rights|year=2006|url=http://www.uncaged.co.uk/declarat.htm|access-date=3 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102075149/http://www.uncaged.co.uk/declarat.htm|archive-date=2 November 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)|title=General FAQs|url=http://www.peta.org/about/faq.asp|access-date=3 November 2007}}</ref>

In the United States and Canada, pursuing quarry for the purpose of killing is strictly forbidden by the Masters of Foxhounds Association.<ref name="usmfha1"/> According to article 2 of the organisation's code:
<blockquote>The sport of fox hunting as it is practised in North America places emphasis on the chase and not the kill. It is inevitable, however, that hounds will at times catch their game. Death is instantaneous. A pack of hounds will account for their quarry by running it to ground, treeing it, or bringing it to bay in some fashion. The Masters of Foxhounds Association has laid down detailed rules to govern the behaviour of Masters of Foxhounds and their packs of hounds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfha.com/code.htm|title=MFHA Code of Hunting Practices|year=2000|publisher=Masters of Foxhounds Association of North America|access-date=2008-02-12|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080315131747/http://www.mfha.com/code.htm |archive-date = 15 March 2008}}</ref></blockquote>
There are times when a fox that is injured or sick is caught by the pursuing hounds, but hunts say that the occurrence of an actual kill of this is exceptionally rare.<ref name="usmfha1"/>

Supporters of hunting maintain that when foxes or other prey (such as coyotes in the western USA) are hunted, the quarry are either killed relatively quickly (instantly or in a matter of seconds) or escapes uninjured. Similarly, they say that the animal rarely endures hours of torment and pursuit by hounds, and research by Oxford University shows that the fox is normally killed after an average of 17&nbsp;minutes of chase.<ref name=bbccruel>{{cite news|publisher=BBC News|title=Is fox hunting cruel?|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/418681.stm|date=16 September 1999|access-date=3 November 2007}}</ref> They further argue that, while hunting with hounds may cause suffering, controlling fox numbers by other means is even more cruel. Depending on the skill of the shooter, the type of firearm used, the availability of good shooting positions and luck, shooting foxes can cause either an instant kill, or lengthy periods of agony for wounded animals which can die of the trauma within hours, or of secondary infection over a period of days or weeks. Research from wildlife hospitals, however, indicates that it is not uncommon for foxes with minor shot wounds to survive.&nbsp;<ref>{{cite web |author=Baker, P. |author2=Harris, S. |author3=White, P. |publisher=International Fund for Animal Welfare |title=After the hunt, the future of foxes in Britain |url=http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/dimages/custom/After%20the%20Hunt%20(Web%20final%20Feb).pdf |access-date=25 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127073352/http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/dimages/custom/After%20the%20Hunt%20%28Web%20final%20Feb%29.pdf |archive-date=27 November 2007 }}</ref> Hunt supporters further say that it is a matter of humanity to kill foxes rather than allow them to suffer malnourishment and [[mange]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/hunting/inquiry/evidence/hunts/fourburrow.htm|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130123162956/http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/hunting/inquiry/evidence/hunts/fourburrow.htm|archive-date=23 January 2013|author=Four Burrows Hunt|title=Submission to Burns Inquiry|year=2000|access-date=12 February 2008|publisher=Defra}}</ref>

Other methods include the use of [[Snare trap|snares]], [[Animal trapping|trapping]] and poisoning, all of which also cause considerable distress to the animals concerned, and may affect other species.   This was considered in the [[Burns Inquiry]] (paras 6.60–11), whose tentative conclusion was that [[spotlighting|lamping]] using [[rifle]]s fitted with [[telescopic sight]]s, if carried out properly and in appropriate circumstances, had fewer adverse welfare implications than hunting.<ref name=burns/> The committee believed that lamping was not possible without vehicular access, and hence said that the welfare of foxes in upland areas could be affected adversely by a ban on hunting with hounds, unless dogs could be used to flush foxes from cover (as is permitted in the [[Hunting Act 2004]]).

Some opponents of hunting criticise the fact that the animal suffering in fox hunting takes place for sport, citing either that this makes such suffering unnecessary and therefore cruel, or else that killing or causing suffering for sport is immoral.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.league.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_336.pdf|year=2006|author=Linzey, A.|publisher=Christian Socialist Movement|title=Fox Hunting|access-date=11 February 2008}}{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales|Court of Appeal]], in considering the British Hunting Act, determined that the legislative aim of the Hunting Act was "a composite one of preventing or reducing unnecessary suffering to wild mammals, overlaid by a moral viewpoint that causing suffering to animals for sport is unethical."<ref name=CourtAppeal>{{cite web|url=http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2006/817.html|title=R. (oao The Countryside Alliance; oao Derwin and others) v. Her Majesty's Attorney General and Secretary of State of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs|date=23 June 2006|publisher=EWCA|access-date=11 February 2008}}</ref>

[[Anti-hunting]] campaigners also criticised UK hunts of which the [[Burns Inquiry]] estimated that foxhound packs put down around 3,000 hounds, and the hare hunts killed around 900 hounds per year, in each case after the hounds' working life had come to an end.<ref name=burns/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/hunting/inquiry/evidence2/hounds.htm|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130123162956/http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/hunting/inquiry/evidence2/hounds.htm|archive-date=23 January 2013|author=Fanshawe, B.|title=Details of number of hounds involved in hunting, Campaign for Hunting submission to Burns Inquiry|date=17 May 2000|publisher=Defra|access-date=18 February 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/hunting/inquiry/evidence2/amhbmbhanccalc.htm|publisher=Defra|year=2000|access-date=10 April 2008|title=The Hare Hunting Associations, submission to Burns Inquiry|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080824020711/http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/hunting/inquiry/evidence2/amhbmbhanccalc.htm|archive-date=24 August 2008}}</ref>

In June 2016, three people associated with the South Herefordshire Hunt (UK) were arrested on suspicion of causing suffering to animals in response to claims that live fox cubs were used to train hounds to hunt and kill.  The organisation Hunt Investigation Team supported by the [[League Against Cruel Sports]], gained video footage of an individual carrying a fox cub into a large kennel where the hounds can clearly be heard baying. A dead fox was later found in a rubbish bin. The individuals arrested were suspended from Hunt membership.<ref name="Huffington2016">{{cite news|work=Huffington Post UK|title=Investigation launched after footage shows 'Fox Cubs Being Put into Hounds' Kennels'|author=Harris, S.|date=23 June 2016|access-date=23 June 2016|url=https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/investigation-launched-after-footage-shows-fox-cubs-being-put-into-hounds-kennels/ar-AAhwEso?li=BBoPWjQ&ocid=SL5MDHP|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812001402/http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/investigation-launched-after-footage-shows-fox-cubs-being-put-into-hounds-kennels/ar-AAhwEso?li=BBoPWjQ&ocid=SL5MDHP|archive-date=12 August 2016}}</ref> In August, two more people were arrested in connection with the investigation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Further arrests in South Herefordshire Hunt animal cruelty probe|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-37099283|access-date=17 September 2016|publisher=BBC News|date=17 August 2016}}</ref>