Last night the whole nation saw, on a programme called Foxes Live, the shocking sight of the execution of a beautiful adult, perfectly healthy fox.
The creature was trapped in a cage, and presumably left in there most of the night, in a state of panic and distress. And then, while the Channel 4 cameras rolled, a professional gunman ‘dispatched’ it with a gun.
The sequence was appallingly upsetting to anyone who cares about animals, and one cannot complain about the decision of the programme to show it, because the truth is now finally out for all to see. These intelligent, innocent and precious animals are being murdered at will – and it’s not even against the law. Surely the time must now arrive when the law must be changed to protect these fellow mammals from this senseless cruelty and persecution.
And what crime was this animal accused of? According to the man who summoned the executioner, foxes had been ‘frightening the birds in his aviary’. It was not established, of course, that this particular fox had ever even been near his birds, and even if it had, by what process was it decided that this is a capital offence? What are we thinking of, here? Without any kind of arbitration or trial, people are able to kill a wild mammal just because they have decided its beaviour is annoying them.
This is a crime against our fellow creatures – it’s legalised murder, and must must be recognised as such.
It’s incredible that this man was able to decide that the lives of some birds (who should not be kept in cages anyway) were more important than a highly sentient and cognisant animal – with a nervous system almost identical to a human, or a dog, or a cat.
People … are you going to stand by any longer and let this happen? Please make this the day when you say “Enough cruelty to animals”.
Please join us on Save-Me Facebook – join up and help us fight for the decent treatment of animals. And ask your friends to join. And please write to your MP telling him what you think about the way the present law fails to protect our wild animals, and to the newspapers. Spread the horror story – let us see Britain’s animal lovers unite, rise up, and rid this country of this unacceptable cruelty.
Brian
© brianmay.com