To not want my Grandchild to hunt?

[salsmum]

I am very much into animal rescue and hate to see cruelty against humans AND animals. DIL is pregnant with my 1st Grandchild which I'm obviously very excited about, I texted her today to ask how she was and how DS and 'bump' are and she said she was fine...etc.. and then excited tells me that her Nephew aged just a month into his 8th year is going out on his first hunt . Her family are country people and my DS will be moving to the country once GC comes along. I really hate the thought of any child going hunting especially my GC because I think it's not something a child should see nor be encouraged to take part in. My DIL knows my feelings on animal cruelty and feel upset that she should mention 'the hunt' to me (in an excited-so proud of DN way).

Foxhunting still goes on across the UK and they do kill foxes, legally either by shooting them or the dogs 'accidentally' killing the foxes (there are exemptions in the law that allow for foxes being killed by dogs if the marksman can't get a clear shot). There have been prosecutions of hunts who have hunted illegally - ie, continuing to use dogs to savage foxes.

You can argue the rights or wrongs of foxhunting, but anyone who thinks that fox hunts don't kill foxes is either ignorant or deluded.

You could do is ask your DIL and DS not to discuss hunting with you and leave it at that. It isn't exactly a controversy-free hobby and she must have come across other people who don't approve.

yabu obviously your opinion is fine, but the opinions of the parents will lead here.

Add message | Report | Message poster Wonc Sun 16-Nov-14 06:30:27
Yanbu at all.
Does the child get a say? Most children would be bitterly opposed to killing a living creature and would have to be coaxed into it. Dreadful.

My son is aged 15 and goes to a school with a farm attached to it. He has seen animals being born and also been to an abattoir. Did he have to be coaxed into the latter? No

When the time comes you can give your views / beliefs as a factual account of what you think. But do not put on any pressure, go on about it constantly or repeatedly, or show any sign of catsbum. It's not your call.

And you need to educate yourself before engaging in any if this with country folk . Is it hunting with hounds, on a pony? In which case it will be drag hunting and no cruelty . (That's the theory , anyway). If it is shooting pheasants which get eaten, it's preferable to eating farmed chicken, animal welfare wise.

Your DIL is only just pg and you are already prepared to get het up? People have different views on things.

Killing animals never bothered me as a kid.

Pig shooting, rabbits, kangaroos and chickens.

My 2 have never actually shot anything, but they have certainly been in the ute and have eaten freshly shot pig and roo.

Kids learn what is normal from their parents. Anyone who couldn't kill an animal themselves has no business eating one.

Mrsrabbits, there appear to have been 6 prosecutions under the hunting with dogs act (2004). All for hunting with dogs, not necessarily all for hunting with horses and dogs (I'm pretty sure at least 1 was a gamekeeper but can't find the specifics right now)

6, in 10 years with about 200 hunts over the country. Either it is the most useless piece of legislation out there or people are, generally, complying.

As for "children have to be cajoled into hurting animals" you clearly haven't seen what children do to spiders, flies, bees when left to their own devices. Children are actually pretty cruel as a general rule.

Op, yanbu to dislike some of the choices being made but that's the rub of being a grandparent, you get the good side but there's always a trade off. Yabu not to at least look into it a bit. Perhaps being better informed would make you feel better. As a pp says, bloodhounds have never hunted animals. If it's a bloodhound pack he's going with would you feel slightly less terrible about it? It does sound, to me, that you are using this as the focus for your concerns about your son moving but obviously I could be wrong.

YANBU to oppose your grandchild hunting if that's how you feel, however I cannot see making a big deal about it to DIL is going to do you any favours or make a difference. Is it hunting with foxhounds or bloodhounds? As someone said the latter have always pursued a human runner so no worries there. Or is it shooting/beagling they want to take the child to? If they haven't even been born yet I wouldn't worry too much about it

I'd also be tempted to gift the child a lovely hardbacked edition of 'Black Beauty' - the full version where his half-brother gets killed during a hunt in the first chapter.

To what end? That was one of my favourite childhood books but I still take my horse hunting.

Yanbu at all.
Does the child get a say? Most children would be bitterly opposed to killing a living creature and would have to be coaxed into it. Dreadful.

Not the children I've met out hunting, they tend to be the most enthusiastic and the bravest as they have no sense of danger. Let's hope any child opposing the killing of animals is raised vegetarian or even better, vegan. Fox hunting as it was is no more cruel than the meat industry, probably a lot less so as at least the fox lives a natural life and dies quickly. Nowadays most foxes killed by hunts are shot, perfectly legally, although this is difficult to do cleanly so not as many are killed. I'm not going to deny they are still killed by hounds, accidentally or on purpose. A good huntsman has control of the hounds but certainly on the early days of the ban, it was difficult to stop experienced hounds from pursuing as they had done all their lives. I doubt there are many if any hounds hunting now who were around when the ban came in but the new ones are trained the same way.

The British 'hunters' are not my favourite group of people either, even if they don't kill anything (and they still do, of course).

Because of what they do or because of who you perceive them to be? Some people I've met hunting have been lovely, some complete arseholes, just like any other large group of people. And most of the hunts around here are nowhere near the same as the uber posh ones usually portrayed in the media.

What does your son think?

When DIL mentioned that her nephew was going hunting, knowing that you don't agree with it, do you think she was being deliberately nasty/provoking or just making conversation?

YANBU in your views, but YABU if you think you can do anything about it. It isn't your call.

salsmum are you Vegan?

why is it your DIL you are cross with - surely your son is also involved - yet you post as though it was her decision alone

it's nowt to do with you at the end of the day and I am surprised someone so into animal rights didn't know about the ban on hunting

Her nephew was off on a hunt - which nowadays is dressing up.and prancing running around with horses/dogs. No animals are being chased any more as it's illegal.

I guess she was proud to see her nephew dressed up smart and doing what she sees is a part of his heritage. It is a big ocassion in that community. I genuinely think she was being absent not cruel when she was talkibg to you about it.

I live in the country, one of my neighbours has witnessed them still hunting foxes. I think it's a bit naive to essentially say 'it's illegal so there's no way they could still be hunting any more.' Just like how people don't do anything else that's illegal? But yes, as ihatethecold has said, not all hunting is fox hunting anyway.

Sympathy OP, I hate hunting as well. Though as others have said, there's not a lot you can do.

Congratulations about immanent grandparenthood Salsmum, how exciting and hopefully you'll get to share lots of things you enjoy going with your DG, including your animal rescue activities. I can understand your sentiments but as others have said I wouldn't be vocal in your disapproval or you may risk damaging the relationship with your DIL and DG. I came from a family with a tradition of hunting but by the time I was about the same age as your SIL's DN I'd turned vegetarian and was very passionate about animal rights. Ultimately you can't control hop your DS and DIL bring up your DG but likewise they can't control how they turn out, their child may come to the same conclusions I did.

sorry misread your post op - I read it as your gs - it's not worth getting in a twist over - sorry

Fox hunting - killing foxes - without a doubt still goes on, legal or not. I would imagine it would be difficult to enforce the legislation anyway.

But - your GC has not been born yet. He / she may not even like riding or want to hunt. A lot of other things could change in that time.

The meat trade, with transport of live animals (albeit much shorter distances than there used to be), some methods of slaughter etc is still more cruel than hunting ever was (also think about battery egg farming, milk production etc)- so I assume you're vegan? Just mention that as a vegan you'd rather not talk about it. I'm sure she'll understand!

Drag hunting is all about riding - being brave enough, keeping up with everyone, being polite and well mannered riding in company and keeping control of your horse (pony in this case!). Many children and adults love the thrill of following the hounds, riding in a large group and jumping whatever comes their way.

But it is DIL's nephew that is going hunting. Not your your unborn DGC.

Yup, I misread the op too sorry

Ok so you are disliking hunting in general, that's fair enough. No one has to like everything other people do!

What kind of person who cares about animal rights doesn't know that fox hunting was banned in the UK several years ago?

Get your facts right before you go around criticising other people otherwise you'll look silly as well as bothersome to your DIL.

And it is also a bit silly to be worrying about what an unborn child might potentially be doing one day far into the future. All sorts of things could happen between now and then.

People can hunt deer in open season and what about ducks, geese and pheasants also I think it's known that the hunting with dogs ban is widely flouted in parts of the country.

I don't expect my adult DD and her DP to interfere and tell me how to run my life or what I can like or dislike... and I don't do that to them either. Honestly? It's one of the reasons that DD and I had a falling out recently. Not hunting, but something else. DD and her DP felt that they had every right to lecture me on something they don't approve of and I told them they were out of order imposing their ideas on me. They've still got their noses out of joint over it.

As far as hunting is concerned, I grew up in the states, and my parents went hunting regularly. I don't have any problems with it, so long as it's all being done legally. I wouldn't push my views on someone else, and I wouldn't expect someone else to push their views on me.

I wouldn't recommend you voice a bunch of disapproval to your grandchild over this... unless of course you want to alienate them.

There is no animal cruelty involved any more in hunting, it's just a lot of people riding through the countryside and enjoying the great outdoors.
Hunting foxes has been banned thank goodness.