Hounded out

For some, barking hounds pursuing quarry over England's green and pleasant land echoes the glory of dashing pinks and thundering hooves.

For others it's the death song for the hunted - usually a fox, often killed - and certainly the most controversial sporting figure of recent times.

As the hunting debate escalates this week with the publication of the Burns Inquiry into the impact of fox-hunting on the countryside, the flash of red fur in the undergrowth continues to be a political as well as an animal rights martyr.

As press leaks reveal that the Government is set to approve legislation banning fox-hunting, and possibly hunting with dogs altogether, anti and pro-hunting lobbies are squaring up for battle.

The fox is the pre-General Election pivot on which ministers hope to regain disillusioned core Labour voters, finally honouring a previous election pledge to ban the bloodsport.

But will this Government go where others have feared to tread and stop bloodletting in the fields, as anti-hunting activists hope? Or is it on a no-win collision course with old Establishment and countryside communities, frothing at the mouth at the idea of being deprived of their traditional sport?

Penny Little, regional spokesman for the anti-bloodsports group Protect Our Wild Animals (POWA), says: "I'm cautiously delighted at the news, but I'm not hanging out the flags just yet. "The Government has raised our hopes like this before, but a main strand here is dissatisfaction with Blair.

"Many votes were cast in the last election because he promised to ban hunting, and when people's altruistic vote is ignored, that's a pretty awful betrayal."

Hunting with dogs is the last legal bloodsport in Britain. It dispatches about 100,000 animals a year, including foxes, mink, deer and hares, according to anti-hunt campaigners.

Other bloodsports, such as cock-fighting and badger baiting, have been outlawed. So why does fox-hunting remain?

Ms Little adds: "It's a deeply entrenched Establishment pastime, backed by influential people. It's not simply a class issue, but historically speaking, they have exerted their influence to keep it alive. "This is the last groan of a dying lobby. The reason for banning fox-hunting is simple - it's extremely cruel. It's time we gave wildlife the respect it deserves." But the pro-hunting Countryside Alliance, which commissioned the Burns Report, argues that it is far from finished.

Sam Butler is joint master of the Warwickshire Hunt, which covers large parts of north Oxfordshire, and chairman of the Countryside Alliance committee for hunting. He says: "An independent inquiry was commissioned because we wanted established facts and to cut out the emotion.

"This news suggests that the Government has already made a decision without giving MPs and the public the chance to make up their own minds."

But anti-hunt campaigners claim that four members of the inquiry committee have proven pro-hunting links. Mr Butler adds: "Of course they feel the report is not independent, it would never suit their propaganda. They want to ban what they see as a class issue and have tried to malign the committee from the outset."

For him, the core issue is that hunting with dogs does not cause suffering to their quarry. "We expect the report to show that there is no case for banning hunting with dogs. We believe it has a legitimate place in the 20th century."

The fox's ultimate tragedy is that he makes good sport for hounds' tracking instincts. Whether or not he continues to run from them relies on where the political paper trail leads.