Category: Explaining Animal Welfare

Issues that explain the meaning of animal welfare

Boxing Day Hunts still attract crowds & violence.

Boxing Day Hunts still attract the crowds, demonstrators and violence, but why?

Sixteen years after hunting was banned the unnecessary Boxing Day Hunts gather and take place on the pretext of preserving rural tradition and these attract the inevitable controversy and conflict which has accompanied them since the Hunting Act 2004 was introduced.

The Act was supposed to stop hunting and settle all the arguments once and for all, but as with most animal protection law it has failed dismally and we still must put up with all the nonsense caused by the red-coated individuals who use every excuse to continue their hobby and flout the law and escape prosecution.

One such “hunt” gathers each year in the picturesque Kentish town of Tenterden, once my childhood home, where every 26th. December at around 10 a.m. I had a birds-eye view of the hunt from my bedroom window  when they noisily assembled outside 70 High Street where we lived above my father’s shop.

The annual day of chaos has economic benefits for the town and is therefore welcomed.

Although an extremely picturesque sight it also caused chaos as thousands of people from all over the district piled into the usual sleepy town and gridlocked it for two hours or so until  the Hunt, suitably imbibed with drinks from the Vine Inn Public House next door, cantered through the melee to the sound of horns like the charge of the Light Brigade to cheers and waving from the onlookers. This annual chaos is of course welcomed by the town because of the economic benefits involved.

I watched this annual event from about 1957 until I left home in 1975 and it was noticeable that its attraction never wavered, while my attitude against hunting became more established despite being countryside bred. During my informative years as a youngster demonstration was almost non-existent and little thought given to the ethical and moral issues of hunting as it was just a lot of fun the day after Christmas.

Four decades on, it is clear that the popularity of these festive hunts is on the increase with more people than ever attending, but why do the hordes continue to descend in this way. Is it to support the Hunt or because they are purely viewed as family entertainment?

The Hounds have always been the biggest draw

From my bedroom it was always obvious that the hounds were the biggest draw with everyone including me wanting to get close to pet them even though they smelled rank due to the poor conditions they are kept under, something most of us were unaware of. They were noisy, boisterous, cheeky and naughty and appeared to be having a great time.

The horses were also a draw, but in hindsight it is difficult to understand why we all stood around, often in freezing weather, for an hour waiting for a group of red and black-coated horsemen and women to finish a morning drink outside a pub.

Hunting hounds, fox hunting, cruelty to dogs
The hounds are usually the major draw for crowds at Boxing day Hunt meets.

Boxing Day hunts attract the crowds in ever-increasing numbers.

I no longer have any real association with Tenterden and rarely if ever visit because my father’s shop closed in the late eighties and both my parents have died, but the scenario shows that nothing has changed over the last four decades and despite all the campaigning and hunting ban we are even more happy to support such events despite what they stand for.

The Boxing Day Hunts are just a spectacle for most, but for hunt supporters they are an important way of keeping the debate in the public eye until that Nirvana in the future when hunting is legalised again.

Lets take the hounds out of the equation.

The law makers missed a golden opportunity to put an end to all this violence and mayhem towards both humans and animals on both sides of the debate. All that was needed was to make it illegal to participate in a drag hunt and to own, breed, keep or let loose packs of more than two dogs onto any land whether private or common for any purpose.

Arguments that the dogs (and horses) would all be killed as they are unsuitable as pets was always groundless as there will always be an animal lover on hand to devote their energies into saving them if required.

There is no reason why the meeting up of hunts cannot continue in order to maintain the postcard images and spectacle. There is no harm in allowing them to meet up outside a local village pub on horseback for a few drinks dressed in their red and black finery for the sightseers to clap and cheer as they ride off at the sound of the horns. They can still continue enjoy an exhilarating gallop across the countryside in search of wildlife, but let us dispense with the hound pack and drag hunting and the use of the poor creatures as bargaining chips to continue hunting.

Related Articles:

Hunting with dogs and the “unenforceable” ban.
Releasing captive bred pheasants should be abandonment.
Hares beleaguered on all sides & on the run.
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No paradise for the Gili Island ponies

Cidomo, pony cart, Gili island, horse abuse
Cidomo pony carts on the narrow streets of Gili islands.

The mass expansion of tourism on the motorless Gili Islands, Lombok is giving local ponies a hard time.

Recently I spent a few days on the Gili islands during a lengthy trip visiting Lombok island and it was fascinating to see the ponies and brightly coloured carts locally known as the “Cidomo”. They are literally the workhorses of the islands which have no motorised transport, although electric-powered scooters are now making their presence known. All supplies for the islands arrive by boat and almost everything is then transported to their final destination by the “Cidomo’, including the tourist hordes who are laden down with their luggage.

Pony cart, Overloading, horse cruelty, Cidomo
A pony taking the strain of heavy cement sacks destined to build more guest houses.

There are many social media and internet sites set up by tourists who have visited the islands decrying the way these ponies are cared for, but ironically in the case of the Gilis it is the pressures of increasing tourism which is causing many of the problems. I have read posts by horse lovers who on one hand hypocritically condemn their use but still cannot resist using them.Most if not all the ponies are in good bodily condition, but it is the way they are driven and loaded which is unsatisfactory. Some of the problems are the result of lack of knowledge and education of the owners and drivers.

The need for evermore guest houses and hotels is one main cause of their overloading with cement, roofing and other building materials and also supplies to keep the tourists happy and healthy such as bottled water and beer. The building spree is also taking away grazing and exercise land for them.

Another problem is the unnecessary overloading by the tourists themselves by their insistence of squeezing four people into a cart with their baggage to save money and by agreeing to pay outlandish fees which only encourages more Cidomos over to be brought to the islands as owners and drivers see this trade as easy money from gullible tourists.

Overloaded pony cart, Cidomo, Gili islands, Lombok, Indonesia
Roofing material destined for new tourist guest houses. The demand causes more hardship for the ponies. Credit: Deborah Jacob

A third issue is the young immature drivers using them to race round at high-speed along the narrow, rutted island streets and tracks, often with the misguided encouragement of the tourists treating it like an adventure theme ride. This becomes a danger to tourists wandering the streets and no doubt must cause the occasional accident. In fact, the driver’s haste is to get back for another fare before the new arrivals do the sensible thing and walk the short distance to their hotel. Most hotels are within walking distance.

The Gilis are a typical example of how tourists visiting an increasingly overloaded tourist destination can inadvertently encourage the abuse of local animals through ignorance of animal welfare issues. In this case it is the lazy tourist who on arrival by ferry at the harbour find lines of cute Cidomos and mistakenly want to take part in what they believe is a bit of local tradition. The more lazy among us also find it easier in the heat to make use of them instead of walking.  It is possible to alleviated the situation by only using the carts to carry their bags and walking beside it, but few think of this.

Hores abuse, pony, Gili Islandss
A Gili pony having a well earned bath at the end of a hard day with its young driver. Credit: Dan Mills

The Gili island cidomos were not put there as a tourist attraction but are a traditional local form of transport that have been in use by the local Sisak people thoughout recent history and are still widely used all over Lombok and other islands providing a taxi service for many of the poverty-stricken residents. Compared with the ponies on the Gilis these are the ones that are really suffering and where the focus for concern is required.

Many local residents rely on this cheap form of taxi service on Lombok.

The Gili ponies are not as bad off as those on Lombok and other islands which most tourist either do not see or take notice of. We had the time and inclination to visit the suburbs, communities and markets of Mataram the capital of Lombok interacting with the local people, where it was obvious that there was a great need for the use of Cidomos, which suffer greatly from overloading, the dangers of heavy traffic and poor husbandry. They offer cheap vital transport for poorer people and suffer far greater hardships than those on the Gilis.

Cidomo, suffering of ponies,
A Cidomo on the streets of Mataram, the capital of Lombok, struggling through busy traffic with local residents returning from the market. Many people cannot afford taxis and so Cidomos are a lifeline.

There are many campaigns and social media reports of the cruel treatment of Gili ponies, some of which is well-founded but much of it is overstated and out of context. Rarely do you hear about the plight of those on mainland Lombok who are in more urgent need of help. There are charities and organisations attempting to ease some of the hardships which are worth supporting, but tourists also have a responsibility to lessen their load by not using them out of laziness or for photo opportunities.

When we arrived on the Gilis we struggled the 800 yards on foot to our guest house in the heat, while others zipped by on the Cidomos and yes it was a struggle, but our consciences were clear.