19. Fight over Fox-hunting 猎狐引发的冲突
① 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.
② 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.
③ 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 healthy.
④ It is estimated that up to 100,000 people watch or take part in fox hunting.But over the last couple of decades the numbers of people opposed to fox-hunting,because they think it is brutal,has risen sharply .Nowadays it is rare for a 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.
⑤ Noisy confrontation 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 is trying to get Parliament to approve a new law which will make the hunting of wild animals with dogs illegal.
