Fox hunters, protesters face off over annual hunt

LONDON -- Thousands of fox hunters and their supporters rode out Thursday for traditional post-Christmas hunts, taunted by protesters who hope to see the sport banned by next year.

The pro-hunting Countryside Alliance said up to 250,000 riders and supporters attended dozens of Boxing Day hunts across the country.

In Winslow, northwest of London, dozens of hunt supporters and opponents faced off across the town's market square as mounted, scarlet-clad members of the Whaddon Chase Hunt swept through the streets to a chorus of cheers and boos.

"We will keep coming as long as we keep getting the sort of loyal support from the community of Winslow that we have had today," the hunt's joint master, Ian McKie, said.

Fox hunting polarizes Britain. Opponents see the sport, in which riders and packs of dogs tear across the countryside in pursuit of foxes, as both cruel and a symbol of upper-class privilege.

Supporters say hunts are an integral part of rural life, help control an animal pest and employ thousands of people.

Polls suggest most Britons oppose fox hunting, but government plans to ban it have met strong opposition from the sport's supporters, who have held large and sometimes unruly demonstrations in London.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's government has introduced a compromise bill that would ban hare coursing and stag hunting, but allow fox hunting under license in limited circumstances.

Legislation considered

The bill was passed by the House of Commons earlier this month but is expected to face strong opposition in Parliament's upper chamber, the House of Lords.

Baroness Mallalieu, a Labor Party peer who supports hunting, said licensing hunts was the best solution.

"I think it does need to be publicly accountable but it is extremely well-regulated already," she said.

"The public needs to be reassured that some of these terrible things they are told about just don't happen."

A poll commissioned by the Countryside Alliance found that 41 percent of respondents supported a compromise that struck a "balance between civil liberties and animal welfare," while 36 percent favored an outright ban and 18 percent felt hunting should continue as is.

Pollster NOP interviewed 1,002 adults between Dec. 13 and 15. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Many opponents say they will only accept a total ban.

"The majority of people still find it absolutely extraordinary that such a cruel 'sport' should still exist even in these modern days," said Mike Hobday, a spokesman for the League Against Cruel Sports.

"The idea of a licensed scheme is really a fudge that is absolutely unacceptable to us," since it allow fox hunting with hounds to continue, he said.