Fox hunting and a ban

 
Published: Wednesday 31 December 1997

-- a bill to ban the traditional British sport of fox hunting, although passed in the British parliament, will not become a law. This is because the bill was not given the required time for parliamentary debate and committee review by the government, and must therefore await a place in the legislative calendar in the years to come or possible inclusion as an amendment to legislation this year. The bill was passed by a 260-vote margin. A recent poll indicated that nearly three-quarters of the public was behind the ban.

Mike Foster, the Labour member who introduced the bill, said it was aimed at protecting foxes from "cruelty, unnecessary pain and suffering inflicted in the name of a so-called sport. The fox hunting debate has highlighted the tensions between the people living in the cities and the ones in the countryside. These tensions were reflected in full-page advertisements that carried graphic photographs of animals killed by hunting hounds promoting the need for a ban, and opposing advertisements saying that hunting is the most humane way of culling foxes.

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