Hysterical reaction to attack by a fox
IN Cumbria, a man with a simmering grudge and a legal gun ran amok and shot 12 people dead, and injured many others, before turning the gun on himself.
Gun enthusiasts expressed shock and dismay, but were very quick to defend the UK's licensing laws for fear of a tightening up of the gun laws.
David Cameron said there must be no kneejerk reaction to the shootings.
Yet less than a week later in London, when a different kind of distressing incident occurs involving an attack on two babies as they slept in their cots, allegedly by a fox that entered by a downstairs door which had been left open, all hell breaks loose, with hysterical calls for a cull on urban foxes.
If a fox injured the children, then it would be an extremely rare occurrence — domestic pets are far more of a risk to our children.
Therefore, I find it utterly incredible that the Leader of the House of Commons and the Home Secretary are discussing unnecessary fox control laws, but will do nothing about controlling the number of people with guns!
What has happened to our sense of proportion?
Helen Weeks
West Coker, Somerset
2 Comments
by Sarah, Surrey
Saturday, June 19 2010, 11:20PM
“Sorry, "if"..., "allegedly" ... is Ms Weeks suggesting the parents are lying? "What has happened to our sense of proportion?" Good question to the animal rightists who can only see this ghastly incident in terms of the possible effect it might have on their campaign to keep the ban on hunting.”
by brin, Exeter
Saturday, June 19 2010, 1:08PM
“They are discussing fox control laws because they are more comfortable with the idea of killing animals as opposed to tackling the gun control issue.
I would anticipate that perhaps a fair number of the coalition actually enjoy shooting or killing animals themselves.”