[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—A• correspondent' in last
week's Spectator comments upon an instance of cold-blooded barbarity which occurred in a recent fox hunt. But are not such incidents fairly common in connexion with this sport ? Is it not usual, when a hunted fox takes refuge in the earth, to have him dug out, and thrown to the hounds, while a concourse of English gentlemen and ladies sit upon their horses, com- placent spectators of the hideous scene ?
It is strange indeed that such things should be possible in a country which hus made some excellent. laws for the pre- vention of cruelty to animals. But the cruelties incident to " sport " are actually protected by the law.
I remember some years ago the case of an owner of stag- hounds who was prosecuted for beating a deer to death, because (as he said in his defence) she was sulky " and would not run before his hounds ; but the perpetrator of this atrocity escaped punishment because his offence came under the head of sport. Great efforts are new being made in this country in the cause of humanity–Lto have our slaughter-houses properly organized and inspected, to put an end to the export trade in worn-out horses, and in other directions—but the conscience of the nation is not yet awake to the cruelty openly practised in connexion with many of
our amusements.—I am, Sir, &c., A. M. A. YORKE. Wince; borne Abbas, Dorset.
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