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- About 60,000 Horses and Ponies were used primarily for Foxhunting. If there is a long delay in repealing the Ban or deeming it illegal, many of the approx’ 200 traditional Fox Hunts will “wither on the vine” to be replaced by far fewer Drag/Trail Hunts. There would then be no reason to afford to keep an estimated at least one third of hunting horses and ponies. In the event of such a delay, some 20,000 horses and ponies will be thrown onto the market eventually.
- The market in most types of horse and pony (not just hunters) will be seriously damaged in the UK and in the Irish Republic, which supplies a highly significant proportion of the UK market. Therefore, most of the 20,000 will end up in the slaughterhouse. The remainder would face a high risk of neglect. Typically, a low grade hunting horse's value will drop from £2,000 to £500 meat price and a good hunter from £5,000-£8,000 to £800-£1000. The economic effect on the UK and Irish Horse Industries would be severe. The lack of the established outlet for retired Competition Horses (Eventers, Show Jumpers, National Hunt racehorses etc.) would make these sports less attractive and harm the UK's exports and performance.
- Sales of horse food, bedding, saddlery, veterinary products, horse transport and transporting etc. would be significantly reduced.
- Most of the approximately 15,000 Foxhounds now employed in Hunting (about 200 Packs of an average of 75 hounds each) will in time not be needed. A significant proportion will have to be put down in the near future. Trail Hunting and Drag Hunting need fewer hounds. Furthermore in the event of delay in repeal/deeming illegal the Foxhunts will be replaced by fewer Drag/Trail hunts (about 40 with 30 hounds each including new hunts which would be formed after a ban--- why so few?). Virtually no Foxhounds will make suitable pets. Some would be exported to the very many other countries where Hunting continues to flourish (not the least to the USA where there are hundreds of Fox and other Hunts), but most would have to be destroyed ( that is up to 12,000 perfectly fit dogs, many just 2 years old).
- Foxes will be destroyed ruthlessly, mostly by shooting, as has happened in Scotland. There will be knock on effects down the ecological chain (E.g. in rabbit populations). The ecological and economic effects of a significant reduction in fox populations are hard to predict, but upsetting long established Natural Balances has been shown to have significant costs (E.g. the increasing costs of controlling a surging population of badgers).
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