Virginia Law Phasing Out ‘Fox Pen’ Vexes All Sides

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Ken Maguire, Virginia Law Phasing Out ‘Fox Pen’ Vexes All Sides. New York Times, Apr 18, 2014.

Quote:

“foxhound training preserves, as they are officially called * * * Inside fenced enclosures averaging 200 acres, hounds pursue wild foxes. * * * Virginia’s pens must be at least 100 acres. Over all, there are more than 600 enclosures in almost 20 states. Nearly 60 percent are in Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. * * * Virginia’s 36 enclosures drew more than 10,000 visitors last year, state wildlife officials estimate. Most pens charge about $5 per hound * * * Escape hatches for the foxes are mandatory. Mr [Emerson] Poarch[,Jr--owner of a fox pen constructed in 1987, one of the first in Virginia] has laid plastic plumbing pipes, seven to eight inches in diameter, on the ground. Dogs cannot fit into them and give up when a fox shelters there, he said.

“Hunting in enclosures is a second cousin to the tonier, English-style mounted [on horseback] fox hunts. Horses and champagne are replaced by pickup trucks and cold beer.

Note: fox
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox
(By far the most common and widespread species of fox is the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), although various species are found on almost every continent; “Fox hunting is an activity that originated in the United Kingdom in the 16th century. Hunting with dogs is now banned [since 2005] in the United Kingdom, though hunting without dogs is still permitted”)