I WOULDN'T be a campaigner if I didn't speak out against hunt cruelty, so it doesn't bother me that I have become a figure of hate for some extremist hunt supporters.
What does disturb me, is how hunts insist on keeping the myth alive that foxes are vermin.
Let's not forget that hunting is a business that would fold if there were no foxes to abuse, hence the need for artificial earths.
Any excuse that hunts provide a much needed pest control was well and truly blown out of the water when that little snippet first came to light.
Foxes are by nature very territorial, chasing out any outside foxes. All that happens when a fox family is wiped out from an area (usually by gun packs using terrier-men) is that you create a space for the next fox family to move in - so shooting them is not only cruel but a waste of time.
But the hobby hunter/shooter does not want to see the fox wiped out altogether - and why would they, when they enjoy using them as live quarry?
Softie the vixen - photo courtesy of Rogers Wildlife Rescue
Hunts have used everything at their disposal to try to gain public sympathy in their quest to overturn the ban.
Pouring money into their campaigns has been a bottomless pit, but it's the accusations that really get to me - the class issue comes up time and again.
What they can't seem to understand is that people like me don't care about how much power and wealth they have.
I have never been jealous of anyone in my entire life. For me it has only ever been about the cruelty.
Having class has nothing to do with so-called breeding - you can be as poor as a church mouse and exude class. I imagine many hunters were spawned from the lower order, making the class argument ridiculous.
Another excuse is that foxes have no natural predators. This is true, but then neither do badgers and they're not spiralling out of control.
It's interesting that badgers too will wreak havoc in a shabby hen-house, but we don't hear the hunt in full cry baying for their blood, unless you happen to be a lowly terrier-man.
Poultry keepers should protect their hens by providing them with sturdy housing and good fencing.
I don't believe those who say they keep their hens well protected but foxes still get in. To lose them because of rickety fencing and housing is cruelty on the part of the owners.
At the end of the day hunting is about abusing an animal for entertainment. To many people - myself included, this is abhorrent! It's why I fight so hard to get the truth out.
My husband used to be a member of the Wildfowlers Association. Although he regrets having shot crows, ducks and wood pigeons, he said he could now never bring himself to shoot an animal.
Thankfully he now prefers to shoot only landscapes with his Leica camera - a hobby we both enjoy.
So some of us have empathy for birds and animals, while others have some catching up to do.
For me there is no excuse why any animal should have die for our species, but the most unforgivable sin is tormenting an animal to its death for one’s own entertainment.
