The fox hunt—long held tradition in The UK—has faced opposition before.

Picture a bucolic pastoral scene, magnificent horses, fabulously outfitted riders, a canter through the countryside, dogs enjoying a great romp in the woodlands—great fun for everyone…except the foxes.

For traditionalists, the event is a sign of all that’s well and good and historically fashionable in the UK.

For animal rights activists it’s all about the terror of the fox being hunted. I’ll spare you the details of dogs and foxes in a not-too-casual meet-up.

In BBC news, British comedians are taking up the plight of the fox and raising awareness via social media and they are very good at it. Activists like Ricky Gervais are speaking up for the fox and opposing government in order to stop the hunt.

Reported by the BBC Trending:

“Influential animal rights charities such as the RSPCA, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the League against Cruel Sports, have traditionally led the anti-hunting charge in the UK, but on social media it’s British comedians and celebrities who seem to be making the most impact.

The most powerful man in Britain wants the freedom to hunt this animal on horseback and watch dogs rip it to pieces” tweeted comedian and vocal animal rights campaigner Ricky Gervais alongside a video of a playful fox.

The Office star has more than 8 million Twitter followers, and since Thursday his feed has been dotted with pictures of fox cubs. His messages were retweeted by other celebrity conservationists such as Queen guitarist Brian May and documentary maker Bill Oddie.” 

Gervais has also re-tweeted links to a petition on change.org which has attracted more than 240,000 signatures.

The power of social media is not to be under-estimated. The people are speaking and the powers that be must listen—his is a new way of making revolution, without guns or riots.

Shall we join this revolution and stand for the foxes by signing the petition?

The choice is yours, as in all good revolutions, we are free to take sides, but now we can do it without leaving our living room or office and simply by pressing yay or nay on our keyboards.

But not everyone agrees that social media sentiment marks the true emotional climate of a nation. Alliance spokeswoman said:

“The recent general election has shown the dangers of mistaking social media sentiment for a true representation of public opinion. It is very easy to favourite a celebrity tweet but I wonder if 400,000 of these keyboard warriors would rally themselves to march, as the Countryside Alliance did in support of hunting in 2002. You can be sure that once a concrete piece of legislation has been brought forward hunting supporters will be ready and willing to act.”

Time to march, fox lovers!

 

Relephant: 

Fox Off Hunters!

Incredibly Cute & Fluffy Pictures of Baby Foxes.

 

Author: Monika Carless

Editor: Katarina Tavčar

Image: Ricky Gervais on Twitter