TEXT G Foxes and farmers have
never got on well. These small dog-like animals have long been accused of
killing farm animals. They are officially classified as harmful and farmers try
to keep their numbers down by shooting or poisoning them.
Farmers can also call on the services of their local hunt to control the
fox population. Hunting consists of pursuing a fox across the countryside, with
a group of specially trained dogs, followed by men and women riding horses. When
the dogs eventually catch the fox they kill it or a hunter shoots it.
People who take part in hunting think of it as a sport; they wear a
special uniform of red coats and white trousers, and follow strict codes of
behavior. But owning a horse and hunting regularly is expensive, so most hunters
are wealthy. It is estimated that up to 100,000 people watch or
take part in fox hunting. But over the last couple of decades the number of
people opposed to fox hunting, because they think it is brutal, has risen
sharply. Nowadays it is rare for a hunt to pass off without some kind of
confrontation between hunters and hunt saboteurs. Sometimes these incidents lead
to violence , but mostly saboteurs interfere with the hunt by misleading riders
and disturbing the trail of the fox’s smell, which the dogs follow.
Noisy confrontations between hunters and saboteurs have become so common
that they are almost as much a part of hunting as the pursuit of foxes itself.
But this year supporters of fox hunting face a much bigger threat to their
sport. A Labour Party Member of the Parliament, Mike Poster, is trying to get
Parliament to approve a new law which will make the hunting of wild animals with
dogs illegal. If the law is passed, wild animals like foxes will be protected
under the ban in Britain. What is special about fox hunting in Britain
A．It involves the use of a deadly poison. B．It is a costly event which rarely occurs. C．The hunters have set rules to follow. D．The hunters have to go through strict training.