1. No category

For Immediate Release
Exclusive to Leader on 21.5.15
MEDIA RELEASE
Fox hunting as a recreational sport in Victoria
 RSPCA does not support recreational hunting, baiting and coursing of wild
animals with dogs or horses.

The RSPCA believes that fox control should be limited to humane methods and carried out
only by people who are properly trained and equipped under a government supervised program
 In Victoria, it is an offence for dogs used in hunting to maim or attack wildlife
including game.
THE HUNTER:
Gun dogs and dogs used for scent-trailing or fox baiting and horses used to chase
foxes are often injured. “The welfare of all animals used in such deplorable activities
can be seriously compromised.”
In some situations well-trained dogs can assist in detecting or flushing out animals
prior to shooting. However, it is cruel and therefore unacceptable to set a dog onto
an animal with the intention that the dog will attack it.
Hunts regularly breed more puppies than are required for the hunting pack. Through
selection after birth, after weaning, after rearing and through testing by hunting,
dogs are selected for the pack.
Those dogs that fail to make the grade at any stage from birth onwards are killed.
Once dogs have entered the pack they are culled if they fail to thrive as pack animals,
if they become ill and unable to keep up with the pack, when they become too old to
hunt with the pack, or when they become surplus to hunt requirements. The average
hunt dog lives half the normal life expectancy for a dog of the breed.
THE HUNTED:
The RSPCA believes that recreational hunting, or the act of stalking or pursuing an
animal and then killing it for sport, cannot be justified. “Hunting has the potential to
result in significant animal suffering: animals are sometimes chased to the point of
exhaustion and then killed with methods that do not cause a quick and painless
death.”
“Using animals to hunt and/or kill any other animal is immoral, cruel and
unnecessary, and should have no place in a modern society.”
With some hunting activities and practices the potential for significant suffering is
extremely high, for example where animals are injured but are not retrieved, where
dogs and horses are used and are not controlled properly, where hunters lack
technical skill, where killing methods do not cause rapid death, or where dependent
young are left abandoned.
“Current regulations and enforcement regimes do not prevent these things from
occurring: they are an inevitable consequence of recreational hunting activities.”
PEST ANIMAL CONTROL?
A survey carried out by the University of Queensland in 2012 gives an insight into
what motivates hunters in Australia. The survey asked “What motivates you to
hunt?” and participants chose from 8 alternatives and selected all that applied.
Hunting to ‘control pest animals’ was given as a significant motivation to hunt.
However, there is no evidence that recreational hunting, as it is currently performed
in Australia, is effective at reducing the population or impact of ‘pest’ animals on a
broad-scale level.
International evidence shows that fox hunting does not have a significant effect on
the fox population. The evidence also shows that the hunted fox suffers
unnecessarily both during the chase and at the kill.
THE PENALTIES:
“Wild animals, including pest species, are sentient beings capable of feeling pain and
distress and should be provided with the same degree of protection as domestic and
farmed animals. The penalties for causing unnecessary suffering to any animal
should be the same irrespective of whether they are wild, farmed or domestic.”
Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1986) POCTAA, the following
penalties can be implemented if a recreational hunter is found guilty of committing
an act of animal cruelty or aggravated cruelty associated with the ‘sport’:
 Section 9: 246 penalty units which equals over $36,000 fine + 1 year
imprisonment
 Section 10: 492 penalty units which equals over $72,000 fine + 2 years’
imprisonment
THE CODE OF PRACTICE AS ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT:
Under the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals in Hunting, any dog used to
assist game hunters must instinctively hunt and must be non-aggressive, obedient
and be able to be trained to obey commands from the hunter to only hunt certain
types of wild animals and to ignore distractions in the field. Any dog that attacks,
bites or maims wildlife, including game, must not be used.
http://www.depi.vic.gov.au/agriculture-and-food/animal-health-andwelfare/animal-welfare/animal-welfare-legislation/victorian-codes-of-practice-foranimal-welfare/code-of-practice-for-the-welfare-of-animals-in-hunting-revision-no.1