Animal lovers: Vegetarianism and Cubbing.

This is our British wildlife. Why do we want to destroy it?

I'm sure it's no secret that the vegetarian/vegan movement is gaining momentum. I stayed out of it; I'm a fussy eater and I've tried going vegetarian before with little success, but I sympathise with the cause. I'm an animal lover, and although I'm not against human beings eating meat as a species (we're not herbivores), I am really against the farming industry as it currently stands. I'm not talking about independent, family run free range farms, who look after their animals and slaughter as humanely as possible. I'm talking about the market driven factory farms.
I'd like to point out that it's not the industry that's to blame for farming as it currently stands; it's us. We demand cheap meat and animal produce in such vast quantities that the only way to keep up is to factory farm. Let me make this clear: If the demand stops, so does the supply. Despite that, however, the industry are the ones with the power, and if they'd do away with their own greed, that would be a step in the right direction as well.

This brings me onto my main issue: Fox hunting. Today, I found a casual advert for a children's pony. It stated that this little pony would be a great first hunter for a child or teenager, and it was ready for cubbing now.

If you don't know what cubbing is, let me take a minute to explain. Cubbing takes place at the end of summer, through the beginning of autumn, before the main hunting season begins. It's used as a period to train young hounds to hunt, catch and kill. The target is fox cubs.


This is Danny. I loan him. We're against Fox Hunting.

Picture this: An experienced, mature hound, chasing a cunning, mature fox. The hound knows how to kill quickly and cleanly (even if it doesn't) and the fox knows how to evade capture and hide (even if it can't always do so). This is a normal hunt; sometimes the fox gets away. Sometimes the kill is quick and clean.
Now think about this: An excitable, young hound with no idea what he's doing except following a great scent to a frightened and confused baby fox. The kit is chased away from its mother, its sett and its litter. It doesn't know how to hide; it's never seen a dog in its life. All the dog knows is it's prey. This might be the first fox it's ever hunted, and that baby will get caught and that kill will not be clean. This is cubbing and it's wrong.

We eat meat because it sustains us and we're an omnivorous species. Eating meat serves a purpose, even if it's not strictly speaking necessary. Why do we hunt foxes? For sport. For pleasure. For fun. Tell me that's okay, or justifiable. Give me a good reason for this practise to continue.

I've been at war with myself today; as I mentioned above, I've tried to go vegetarian before, but I've found it difficult. Well I'm going to try again, not because I think one person will make a difference, but because I'm an animal lover, and if fox hunting is wrong, so is the cheap meat industry. I might not be a very good vegetarian; I might still eat fish and I might struggle not to eat meat. But I am against animal cruelty and that means I'll buy free range everything and dolphin friendly, line caught fish. I'll boycott the battery farm industry because I can't in good conscience use eggs from caged hens.

Animal cruelty has to stop being a thing. This goes for all the big game sport, and the pleasure hunts that happen in Africa. This goes for sport fishing, where you catch the biggest fish you can find and compete, and let it suffocate while you celebrate and brag to your friends. This goes for factory farming, where terrified animals are herded into the slaughter house, their senses assaulted by the sound and smell of their herd's blood and panic. This goes for battery hens, and baby cows and pigs who are ripped away from their mothers at barely an hour old and last of all, this goes for fox hunting.

I can't call myself an animal lover and yet turn a blind eye to these practises. This is my pledge to try and make it stop. Please help.

Emma.

Australia

There is so much I want to say about Australia, and sitting here in the airport, waiting to leave, I am genuinely trying hard not to cry.

I feel like I am part of this country now, and I'm leaving before I'm ready. I have had such an incredible time (keep your eyes peeled for my last blog post which I forgot to upload, concerning my last trip to Queensland) and I have spent seven amazing months with wonderful people. 

Since I've been here, a lot of things have changed back home, and I'm anxious to get back and work out what I'm going to do with my life, but looking out the window at this great big Australian sky, there's nowhere I'd rather be. The feeling of Australia, as many travellers will tell you, is contagious. There are so many beautiful things and fantastic people and amazing places that even after seven months, I feel like I haven't done enough.

The past few weeks, since I've somewhat run out of money, I haven't been doing more than hanging out with my favourite people (and horses), but even that has left me content and happy. Leaving here is breaking my heart.

From here, I'll be travelling to Singapore, and will undoubtedly have a wonderful couple of weeks seeing the sights with Tom, so for that reason, I am staying positive. I am also looking forward to getting home to my family - seven months is a long time!

Still, it was so hard saying goodbye to Courtney and her gorgeous dog, Diesel, my lovely friend Lauren, and of course, my aunt and uncle, who have put up with me all this time. On top of that, Thursday was my last day riding, which meant I had to say a difficult goodbye to my wonderful riding teacher, the lovely people I've been riding with, and last but definitely not least, the beautiful quarter horse, Bailey, who I have fallen completely in love with.

In a way, this was my hardest goodbye. Bailey and I spent several weeks working together, fixing each other's problems. She is an underworked, naughty young mare, and she spent at least half her time trying to buck me off. But she never had me off, and leaving her, knowing she's for sale for far too much money was a real worry for me. I'm not sure where she'll end up, and while I know I can always come back to my friends and family here, Bailey probably won't be around when I get back.

So, in short, although I'm excited for the adventures ahead of me, I'd still like to stay a little longer and spend some more time with the lovely friends I've made. I'm not ready to say goodbye.