MR GARRITY is correct that the fox has no natural predator (Letters, January 29), but it is a pest which has to be controlled, as any sheep farmer will tell you, and hounds trained to find foxes contribute to the essential control of fox numbers.
Most animals use flight to avoid situations that their instincts tell them may be threatening, but to say that when taking such action the animal is suffering cruelty or fear is conjecture, they do not have the mental power of reason, they are just doing what is natural to them.
if a fox is finally caught by the hounds it is killed instantly and with certainty which is less cruel than a lingering death in a {legal) snare or from gunshot wounds.
This view of cruelty to the poor, cuddly, pretty fox, held by those who oppose hunting, conveniently ignores the teasing to death of birds by domestic cats and the reality of life and death in the animal kingdom which can be seen on television in any wildlife programme.
David Wright
Walkhampton