COMMENTARY: FOX ISSUES ON LEGISLATIVE LISTS; URBANIZATION MAY AFFECT HUNTING LAWS.

Byline: Bob Hood Fort Worth Star-Telegram 

It appears that England is on the road toward banning fox hunting despite a rally of 100,000 fox hunters last summer at London's Hyde Park, and don't think for a minute that efforts to ban fox hunting and hunting with dogs in general are not being made in America.

Although the effort to ban fox hunting in England might appear to be a remote issue to hunters here, one has only to look to California to see how fast anti-hunters are moving toward banning all hunting in the United States.

The state Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee held a hearing to consider a bill that would ban the use of dogs for hunting bear, bobcat, raccoon, opossum and fox, as well as to ban trapping.

A similar bill was defeated in the California Senate last year, but only after a lobbying campaign by the Wildlife Legislative Fund of America and The Masters of Foxhounds Association, a sportsman's group that organized against the legislation.

In England, the British House of Commons recently voted by a 411-151 margin to outlaw hunting of foxes and other wildlife. Although Prime Minister Tony Blair could derail the legislation, that's unlikely because Blair has stated his support for the measure.

During the 1997 rally, in which fox hunters and other supporters gathered in London to support ``country sports,'' Blair and other newly elected Labor Party officials seemed to distance themselves from the fox hunting issue. But anti-hunters rallied and managed to get the bill approved.

It appears that the strong vote by the House of Commons may be enough to push the bill through the British government.

The California bill is likely a spinoff of the British legislation. That is no surprise, because many animal-rights attacks on hunting in this country began in England.

If the California bill becomes law, it should ring a loud bell of warning to U.S. hunters. It could represent a wave of similar measures that could crop up in legislatures nationwide - bills that would threaten not only fox hunters and trappers but others who use dogs for hunting.

The ban on fox hunting in England, I believe, is the result of the ages-old British class struggle. The same problems in England, however, are being noticed in the United States.

In England and the United States, a large percentage of the population has become extremely urbanized.

In England, there has long been jealousy among the lower class toward the rich - including many people of noble family stock - because the wealthy have primary access to the countryside and indigenous sports such as fox hunting. That makes the country ripe for anti-hunting attacks.

In the United States, a similar danger is looming on the horizon. Our population is also becoming increasingly urban, and many hunters are having a difficult time finding a place to hunt. To the average person, many hunting lands have either been denied by expanding urbanization or by increasing hunting lease prices.

Banning hunting with dogs is no longer a British experience. We, too, are ripe for anti-hunting attacks. That's all the more reason to show support for those who are attempting to protect hunting, whether they are as far away as England or as close as California.

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PHOTO (Color) California policy changes on the use of dogs in hunting might be afoot after British lawmakers voted overwhelmingly against fox pursuits.

Brett Pauly / Daily News