[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—It must surely be
very difficult for anyone who keeps a dog in the country to place much value on the assertion that the digging out of a fox that bas gone to ground is necessary for the sake of the hounds. My terrier frequently runs a rabbit to earth, but never appears to lose his keenness to hunt and kill (if possible), as a consequence.
But there is another argument which is not so easily disposed of. The digging out is said to be necessary for the sake of the - farmers and small-holders who keep poultry. Suppose a fox is run to earth on the land of one who has suffered heavily from Reynard's attentions to poultry. What is an M.F.H. to do ? The farmer demands one life for many, and the question then is, who is to take this life? Possibly, if chicken houses were better looked after and earth-stopping more widely and better done, the question would not arise. But it does arise as things are, and must be faced before we can say that all digging out is " an abominable and unsportsmanlike proceeding."
One of your correspondents admits the cruelty of fox- hunting, quite apart from this digging-out business. He main- tains that the cruelty is balanced by " the qualities developed by the hunting." In short, that the end justifies the means. Could he not bring himself to see that nothing can justify avoidable cruelty, and to join in with many hunting and non-hunting folk in trying to eliminate such cruelty ?
Surely " the qualities developed by the hunting " would not suffer by such elimination. Would not the boot be on the other leg ?—I am, Sir, &c.,
C. M. R. LUCKMAN.
Castle Eaton Rectory, Cricklade, Wilts.
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