opinions on dog hunting?

[whale_omelette]

hello,
i ask this because today i saw some moron chav out with his children and wife in a family park set his dog bulldog on the rabbits in the nature park, having killed one (slowly and clumsily) he let the dog carry the bloodied rabbit corpse around infront of all the other children in the park!

this to me is outright wrong, it is not hunting its just cruel. but it made me wonder.

what i want to know is, why do people use dogs rather than just shooting for a swift death? i do not know anyone who does this (bushcraft and survial wise) to ask.

and i didnt fancy asking mr bull dog owner as he clearly lets his dog kill for fun rather than for food.

 

[gregor-scott]

if you have ever seen a jack russel take a rabbit or even a rat, I doubt you will see an animal dispatched quicker, grab by the head, good swift shake, broken neck and done, no suffering at all, he doesn't miss and wound unlike a man with a gun! has to be well trained though not sob yob's fighting dog.

 

[Toddy]

Yep, what G-S said.
To rip a beast apart isn't *hunting*, not for food, or for any decent humanity, and that behaviour is exactly why hunting with dogs attracts such opprobium. One quick snap and the beast's dinner though; that's productive food procurement or vermin control.

"Sob yob", that's such a good description of the sad oik

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Scottishwanderer]

I disagree with the manner in which he went about it.

If i had a dog and it went flying of after a rabbit to kill it in the woods, personally i'd let him go for it provided there ain't noone about to get offended.

In this circumstance stopping it would be the equivalent of clamping it's mouth shut when it's hot.

 

[Tengu]

A bulldog could only catch a rabbit if it was in a tin...

And it would need one of those ring pull types to stand a chance even then.

Methinks the dog found a sick or injured bunny

 

[Jock]

I guess it was a pittbull or variant & not a bulldog (as they spend their time trying to breath, sleeping or farting from what I've seen )

 

[Tony]

At the Moot we're going to have Frazer who's running a workshop on hunting with dogs, I'll be interested to hear what he has to say on the matter...

 

[shogun]

A bulldog could only catch a rabbit if it was in a tin...

And it would need one of those ring pull types to stand a chance even then.

Methinks the dog found a sick or injured bunny

hi there Tengu i have 3 staffords which i take for rabbits and they are high prey drive and very good at catch rabbits then again my staffords are FIT DOGS NOT FAT DOGS...

 

[santaman2000]

Keep hearing rabbits as they prey but nothing about Beagles. Doesn't anybody use Beagles for rabbits?

 

[nodd]

I am not against hunting so long as its done in a humane way, I would have though there are some legal issues involved here re the Hunting Act 2004 in the way the dogs are used "A person commits an offence if he hunts a wild mammal with a dog, unless his hunting is exempt." http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/countryside/hunting/"Schedule 1 section 4 The hunting of rabbits is exempt if it takes place on land—(a)which belongs to the hunter, or (b)which he has been given permission to use for the purpose by the occupier or, in the case of unoccupied land, by a person to whom it belongs. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/37/schedule/1

 

[Neumo]

Lots of dogs hunt rabbits, often with their owners being completely unaware as happened to a mate. As for setting them onto rabbits deliberatly, well that is as old as the hills & another thing we can take a moral position on if we want. I dont have a dog so cant really comment.

The best one is seeing cat's hunt rabbit, now that is something to see if you are ever privaliged enough to see such a sight...

 

[nodd]

or even a stoat hunting a rabbit

 

[Frogo]

Keep hearing rabbits as they prey but nothing about Beagles. Doesn't anybody use Beagles for rabbits?

I used to have a harrier hound for hunting hares very efficient at it to.

 

[shogun]

i would only hunt on private land and with permission..atb Allan

 

[blacktimberwolf]

There is something primevally exciting & fascinating being with dogs when they hunt & kill something. The man/dog relationship is an ancient one. Why do we still keep dogs today ?....could it be, that subconciously we like to keep a link with our past, a foothold in prehistory when our nomadic anscestors roamed the Earth with domesticated wolves trotting by their side.......
Dogs can & do show agressive behaviour,they are predators after all, & if we are honest with ourselves we like this side of them, if not we would have chosen to share our hearths with deer or sheep........also is there any other animal on this planet who understands us better than dogs.do......I suggest we have far more things in common with them than we do with our closest relative, the Bonobo,...... the thrill of the chase being one of them.

 

[Toddy]

Hmmmm, nah. Gonna disagree. The dog does what it's damned well told.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[shogun]

There is something primevally exciting & fascinating being with dogs when they hunt & kill something. The man/dog relationship is an ancient one. Why do we still keep dogs today ?....could it be, that subconciously we like to keep a link with our past, a foothold in prehistory when our nomadic anscestors roamed the Earth with domesticated wolves trotting by their side.......
Dogs can & do show agressive behaviour,they are predators after all, & if we are honest with ourselves we like this side of them, if not we would have chosen to share our hearths with deer or sheep........also is there any other animal on this planet who understands us better than dogs.do......I suggest we have far more things in common with them than we do with our closest relative, the Bonobo,...... the thrill of the chase being one of them.

GREAT post!!

 

[redandshane]

This is some idiot not keeping his dog under control in a public place he may well also be breaching the peace by letting it wander around and not intervening after the dog killed a rabbit in a park; in terms of the law it has little to do with organised hunting with dogs
Accidents do happen I should know my Red Setter once jumped in beside a pet sheep in a pub garden but I got him out pretty damn quick before the sheep battered him good and proper lol

 

[Tyla]

If you want to see hunting with dogs done properly and within the law i'll take you out, you're not far away. Then you can make your own mind up? PM me

 

[spandit]

You're always going to get chavs with 'ard dogs that aren't trained - it gives many other dog owners a bad name. People always accuse my cocker spaniel of being "mad" but he walks on a slack lead (or close at heel without one), doesn't yap constantly (unless he flushes something and gets really excited) and doesn't bite people. I was under the impression that hunting with dogs was illegal but I see it as no more "cruel" than shooting/trapping animals. I'm not anti-hunting, but unless you're eradicating pests or eating the animal, I find it distasteful