15th December 2018
Hunting Myths (Complete) by Zoologist Jordi Casamitjana
Zoologist Jordi Casamitjana (second left) with (l to r) Joe Hashman (Hounds Off), Chris Williamson (MP), Penny Little (Protect Our Wild Animals) & Philip Mansbridge (IFAW) at the Trail Of Lies launch in 2015, a report written by Casamitjana which deconstructed & exposed the false alibi of so-called 'trail-hunting'.
Make no mistake, the bloodsports lobby are currently pitching hunting with hounds as a humane and cost-effective form of “wildlife management” with smarmy smiles and cleverly constructed, pseudo-scientific arguments. And they still believe that they can win.
On October 11th 2018 the Horse & Hound Magazine published and interview with ex-League Against Cruel Sports Executive Director turned pro-hunt advocate James Barrington, entitled “Hunting’s Most Valuable Asset?” Barrington is part of the Countryside Alliance and Veterinary Association for Wildlife Management, both organisations which campaign for repeal of the Hunting Act (2004) and a return to the days when chasing and killing foxes, hare, mink and deer with packs of hounds was legal.
Dismissing or ignoring the relentless campaign of lies and misinformation would be foolish. That’s why Hounds Off invited zoologist Jordi Casamitjana to respond to the claims made by Mr Barrington and were pleased to publish these in a series of blog posts, the links for which are below. Do feel free to share any or all of them as appropriate. Read More >>
11th December 2018
Hunting Myths Pt 5: Hunting Conserves The Countryside
A hunt-free wildlife sanctuary in Dorset where a 'light touch' and minimal disturbance is enabling plants and animals to thrive.
OPINION: Zoologist Jordi Casamitjana writes exclusively for Hounds Off
It is claimed that hunts help to create a biodiverse ecosystem, but there has never been any evidence to support this claim. How can the use of a pack of hounds chasing wild animals to death followed by a group of riders trampling all over the countryside help biodiversity? Every time hunts remove the hunted animals from the ecosystem they are reducing its biodiversity. Every time they disrupt badger sets or block holes to prevent foxes to hide, they affect the survival rates of wildlife using these holes, reducing biodiversity. Every time they trespass with lots of hounds, horses and vehicles into Nature Reserves or Natural Parks they disturb wildlife which may decrease biodiversity.
Not to forget that hunting in any of its forms has historically contributed to the extinction of many of the animals that used to exist in the UK, such as Wild boar or the Eurasian bison. Every time otter hunters used to hunt otters they put this species closer to extinction, until the otters become legally protected (leading to the creation of Mink Hunts, which continue hunting illegally, both mink and otters). And hunts still hound hares today (even if is also illegal), the populations of which are considered threatened in the British Islands.
Man-made extinctions of local populations are considered the worst biodiversity “sins”, and the hunting/shooting fraternity, together with the animal agriculture industry, undoubtedly are the worst culprits.
The idea that hunting is responsible for farmers and landowners keeping some of their land as wild and natural as possible to allow the “quarry” to thrive before they are killed, falls completely on its face when it is used at the same time with the claim hunts are about lethal control of wildlife (now conveniently labelled “vermin”). And this claim is made even more ridiculous in the article by Mr. Barrington saying that the worse British ecological disasters had been the release of North American mink from fur farms, the outbreak of BT in Baronsdown and the overpopulation of badgers, somehow trying to vilify the animal protection movement implying they are responsible for this.
In actual fact it is very well-known that the American mink was already established in the wild in the UK many years before any animal rights activist released any from the fur farms, because the same fur farmers, possibly pro-hunt, had released them or let them escape. It is a very well-known fact that the Bovine TB outbreak in the deer population of Barnosdown (and any piece of land with deer in the West Country, by the way) was caused by the cattle farmers, most likely hunt supporters, which caused the disease in the first place (remember this is “bovine” TB, not “Deer” TB) and spread it all around the country. It is a very well-known fact that there is no evidence to support that there is an over-population of badgers in the UK and only those who support the current badger cull, many of them pro-hunt farmers and shooting states, have developed this deception, together with the falsehood that badgers are responsible of the BTb epidemic in cattle (which, again, was clearly caused by the destructive cattle industry, the undeniable number one cause of Global Warming, as report after report keeps confirming).
© Jordi Casamitjana
Zoologist
PREVIOUSLY
Hunting Myths Pt 1: The Snakeoil Salesman
Hunting Myths Pt 2: They Only Go For The Sick Old & Weak
Hunting Myths Pt 3: Hunting Is Efficient & Humane
Hunting Myths Pt 4: Hunting Is Natural
