Latest features Could you pull the trigger?

Date Published:

13/08/2008

Could you pick up a gun and kill an animal? And if not, why not? Writer and founder of Justice for Women, Julie Bindel, shoots from the hip

A few years ago, I was in Epping Forest with my much loved dog Peggy. She ran into a bush and came out with blood pouring from her heel. We got her to the animal hospital just in time to stem the flow of blood and save her life. It transpired that hunt saboteurs had laid traps of broken glass in the forest, to harm the horses ridden by fox hunters in the hope it would put them off the activity. Ever since, I have despised the militant wing of the animal liberation lot.

But what about hunting? How do I feel about an activity that depends on the suffering of a sentient wild animal? As someone who is irritated by pious, preaching vegetarians, am I happy to go all the way and condone anything that humans do to animals for the sake of pleasure? No. If it came to it, I could not pull the trigger on an animal, unless I was stuck on the top of a mountain or the like with no food. I could kill an animal to ward off starvation, but even then, I would have my eyes squeezed shut and cotton wool in my ears. If I failed to kill it the first time around, and it showed any signs of pain or distress, I would be haunted by that for a very long time.

Sport?

Few would admit to enjoying cock-fighting, bear-baiting and dog-fighting - all illegal activities. But is that because they are seen as working class sports? There is no question that hunting is viewed as a sport enjoyed by rural toffs, and that they have influential, moneyed, posh folk fighting their corner.

Country companions

Anti-hunt campaigners say that chasing and terrifying a fox to death, or stalking a grouse through its natural habitat in order to shoot it down, is cruel and barbarian. We don’t need to eat game, they argue, as we have an abundance of chickens and livestock. Foxes need not be pests if controlled in more humane ways, they say.

Hunting is positioned so fundamentally as a rural activity that any attack on hunting is represented as an attack on the countryside. Rubbish. But having said that, sustainably sourcing wild animals by hunting ensures that we avoid chemicals used in the majority of farming, and end up with an organic, free-range product.

What makes me ill is the thought of stalking and killing animals for pleasure, rather than hunting as humanly as possible for meat. Pleasure, sport and killing should never go together. Whilst I dislike militant hunt saboteurs, with their nasty campaigns against humans involving letter bombs and threats to kill supporters of blood sports, I despise cruel hunters.

But on balance, I'm with the Sabs.

What's your opinion - could you pull the trigger? Let us know what you think in the user comments below.

Read an interview with Richard Corrigan, hunter and top London chef.

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