Over the weekend, a fox hunters campaign group claimed that it was seeking legal protection for people who had ‘pro-hunting views’. Somewhat hilariously, fox hunters believe they should have the same protection as the Roma community and LGBTQ+ people under the UK Equality Act 2010.
Fox hunters: protected characteristics, apparently…
Seeing as though hunting is almost exclusively reserved for rich, upper class folk who think they are above humane hobbies, it is hilarious that they think they deserve even more protection than their money already affords them:
“Fox hunters ‘should be protected under equality laws’ like Roma and LGBTQ+ people” – seriously!
It’s a middle finger to those people who actually face discrimination on a daily basis. https://t.co/RSq3fp0fDO
— Protect the Wild (@ProtectTheWild_) August 13, 2024
Fox hunters are now claiming they’re an ethnic minority and that they need protection under the Equality Act.
No this isn’t some sick joke.
Rich white men who have hunted wildlife with impunity are now playing victim. It’s an insult to those who actually face discrimination.
— Protect the Wild (@ProtectTheWild_) August 13, 2024
As reported in Mail Online, a senior barrister advised Hunting Kind – a hunting pressure group – that a legal challenge could get them the same status as an ethnic group. Supposedly, this is due to ‘a long shared history, distinct customs and common ancestors’.
The Equality Act 2010 was introduced to protect groups with certain characteristics from discrimination. The act covers: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation:
The fact remains that being a ‘hunter’ doesn’t fit the definition in the Equality Act to be a protected characteristic or belief. Fox hunting also is not about hunting for food.
These people are free to do any other past time together which doesn’t involve harming animals
— Ross (@RCVGAN) August 13, 2024
@UKLabour @Keir_Starmer @SteveReedMP @DefraGovUK you need to ensure this does not happen. Close all loop holes, this is making a mockery of our equality laws & this so called barrister they are using should be ashamed of themselves 😡
— Cornish Maid 〓〓 (@CornishMaid20) August 13, 2024
People on X were quick to point out that it was in fact the foxes that needed protecting:
Foxes should be protected from a vicious, sadistic sub species that derives pleasure from witnessing innocent, sentient, familial creatures being torn apart by their dogs.
— Markpeacock (@Markpea39896280) August 13, 2024
Classism – plain and simple
People would raise their eyebrows if young people in hoodies were violently chasing after animals. So why do these ‘hunters’ get a free pass? Well, because normal rules don’t apply when it’s rich white men:
What a pathetic excuse to be using to try and justify your deplorable savagery. You need medical help not protection 😡
— Angela Thornton (@AngelaThornto19) August 13, 2024
These ‘people’ are remnants from the past, and believe that they are ‘above the law’ and should be allowed to rampage around the countryside and over your property to continue their ‘bloodlust’ by killing our UK wildlife. . . .
Police need to uphold and enforce the law. https://t.co/zezNhzgQ3J— Robert HJ Marshall (@roberthenryjohn) August 13, 2024
Only yesterday, Sheffield hunt saboteurs were met with a heavy police presence after seeing off a large grouse hunt on the Wemmergill Estate in County Durham.
Whilst Grouse hunting is not illegal (in season) it is not a practice that is compatible with conservation in the midst of a climate crisis:
Our driver was arrested yesterday as he went to pick up sabs who’d just seen off a grouse shoot on the Wemmergill Estate in County Durham – an estate frequently featured on the @RaptorPersUK blog for killing brids of prey. Why are police protecting these blood sports enthusiasts? pic.twitter.com/3DYnBV9k24
— Sheffield Hunt Saboteurs (@SheffHuntSabs) August 13, 2024
It’s been a long day on the moors but Sabs have successfully made sure a large shoot on the Wemmergill Estate ended before it really got started.
Sabs remained on the moors to ensure the shooters could not head off to another location, and despite the best efforts of the private… pic.twitter.com/7eGaRxm4LV
— Hunt Saboteurs Association (@HuntSabs) August 12, 2024
In an interview several years ago, Chris Packham explained that Grouse hunting increases wildlife crime.
For example, hunters are illegally killing many birds of prey, including hen harriers, peregrines, buzzards, red kites, goshawk, and even a barn owl. Grouse hunting also persecutes weasels and stouts, crows, foxes, and red squirrels. Traps often kill these animals slowly and painfully, or hunters beat them to death. As Packham said:
They allow levels of suffering that we would never tolerate if these were domestic animals.
The epitome of privileged
Back in 2023, the Canary reported that fox hunting injuries were through the roof. Rich, white people continue to break the law as they routinely track, hunt, and kill foxes for enjoyment.
The Hunting Act 2004 outlawed the practice, and hunts consistently claim they don’t deliberately kill foxes anymore. However, illegal hunting is still ‘prolific’. Hunt saboteurs regularly report on illegal hunts taking place, along with hunts that are legal but controversial and barbaric – such as the grouse hunt this weekend.
According to Protect the Wild, fox hunters:
were people whose everyday experiences were of privilege, of never being told ‘no’, of untouchability. Britain is vastly different now of course, but to some extent the insulated lives of the fox hunting elite didn’t change all that much over the years. They still went to Eton or Gordonstoun, still had a powerful presence in the House of Lords, the judiciary, and industry, and still had enormous influence in rural areas (owning many of the major local businesses) seeing themselves as the only people who really understood how the countryside worked and how it should be controlled.
Similar to today’s climate – whilst some people go hungry and can’t heat their homes, rich white people gather to show off their wealth while going unpunished for breaking the law:
If @UKLabour won’t shut down this barbaric pastime then the people will have to do it.
It’s the 21st century. The world has moved on. Bloodsports are arcane. The land needs rewilding, not burning – we have a climate crisis, the 1% blasting birds exacerbates it.#bbcpm #r4today https://t.co/wCI00Oz7oW
— 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐟 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐲 🎨 👺🐝👽🌳🚴😜 (@JustinBaileyart) August 12, 2024
The system still allows rich white people to kill animals for fun. We guess it speaks to the much larger picture – colonialism, genocide, and white people believing they are above the law.
Feature image via The Dodo/Youtube
