REGARDING the December 17th Dáil vote on the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Fox Hunting) Bill 2025; it’s crucial that all pro fox-hunting constituents make their voices heard on the science and welfare evidence in favour of hunting with dogs.

A trustworthy source for this information is the Veterinary Association for Wildlife Management (VAWM), a membership organisation for veterinary surgeons in Ireland and the Britain with an interest in effective and humane wildlife management. The VAWM has over 150 veterinary members including practitioners, academics, and vets in industry; based in Ireland and Britain; all of whom are in favour of hunting.

The VAWM’s objectives are to promote the management of Irish and British wildlife, by methods which are advantageous for animal welfare and to protect: biodiversity and vulnerable species, the health and welfare of livestock and pets, the livelihoods of farmers and other guardians of the physical environment, and also public health.

More effective

The VAWM position statement on hunting with dogs takes account of the latest research; including a study showing that using a full pack of dogs is more effective for flushing foxes than just a pair of them.

The use of the word “dogs” instead of the word “hounds” recognises that people with little knowledge of hunting are sometimes unaware that hunting is a natural behaviour for most dogs.

The main points from the VAWM position statement are:

  • Hunting with dogs is natural because the fox is hunted in the environment that it knows. It is used to hunting and being hunted. It is adapted to it by evolution. What might be a shocking experience for man or a domestic pet is part of normal daily life in the wild for a fox.
  • Hunting is also natural since it does not use any alien technology, for which the fox has no natural defence or coping mechanism.
  • Hunting is humane since, unlike other methods, it leaves no wounded survivors. The kill, if it occurs, is almost instantaneous and, above all, certain.
  • Hunting is also humane since it culls the weak, the sick and the wounded in direct relation to their debility, the chase being the test, as it has been for millennia in the predator/prey relationship. This selectivity therefore performs a role in preserving welfare by quickly finding the sick and injured and humanely ending their suffering.

    • Welfare evidence

    The VAWM’s secretary Aoife Byrne DrMedVet CertAVP CertVPS is an equine veterinary surgeon in Co. Carlow and has communicated directly with all 174 TDs; sending them the VAWM collection of scientific leaflets that outline the welfare evidence and defend hunting with dogs as the most natural and humane method of fox control.

    Aoife urges anyone involved with fox hunting to share the VAWM website and leaflets with their local TDs and to widely share them with others so that they may also read the evidence that hunting with dogs is the natural and most humane method of controlling the fox population in Ireland.

    Any questions or queries may be emailed to: secretary@vawm.org.uk and Aoife will happily answer them. Please scan the QR codes for more information.