People from all backgrounds kept small packs of hounds with which they would roam the countryside on foot, men and women together, searching for foxes to kill. In some communities, the bounty placed on dead foxes was 12 times that of other "pests."

The fox hunt as we know it today gained popularity during the 19th century. By that time, formal fox hunting had gained a foothold with the scientific breeding of hounds and the invention of better shotguns. The passing of the Enclosure Acts from 1760 to 1840 had made hunting deer more difficult because it required larger tracts of land.

Fox hunting became a pastime of the privileged classes. Hunts are governed by "masters" and back then, they would take on the financial responsibility for managing a hunt, including breeding and rearing the hounds and keeping a stable of horses.

The master would also employ a huntsman to direct the hounds during the hunt, as well as assistants known as "whippers-in." The master would invite people to subscribe to his hunts by charging a yearly fee. Guests of subscribers could pay a day fee.

The cost of running fox hunts, including payment of servants, horses, kennelsmen, whippers-in and horses, during that time would total about 54,000 pounds ($150,000 Cdn) a year in today's money. British historians estimate nearly 50,000 people during the late 1800s were involved in fox hunting in Britain. That meant an average of about 150 riders per meet.

Fox hunting became fashionable as traditional hunting costumes were all the rage: red coats, tight pants and riding boots. The red jackets were called "pinks." The phrase "in the pink" (feeling healthy) is reportedly rooted in the fox hunt. If you were in your "pink," you were ready to go.

Serious hunters engaged tailors for their outfits and had boots, saddles and bridles made to order. Sometimes, hunters would push the limits of the chase – one 1866 hunt lasted almost four hours, several horses were seriously injured and some had to be destroyed.

In the course of a hunt, hounds are "cast," or directed, towards areas known to contain foxes. If the pack picks up the scent of a fox, they will follow it. Horses and their riders will follow the hounds. The hunt continues until the fox evades the hounds, or heads into a burrow to hide itself, or the hounds catch and kill it.

Fox hunting is popular around the world. France, India and Italy still have fox hunts while the activity has been outlawed in Switzerland and Germany. The Masters of Foxhounds Association of America includes 170 registered fox hunting groups in the U.S. and Canada.

The debate deepens

The dispute over the fox hunt in Britain has been simmering since the 1940s, when the British government examined the issue of cruelty to wild animals. Its report said that shooting, trapping and poisoning caused greater suffering than hunting. That didn't stop two private member's bills to restrict the hunt, or ban it altogether. Neither bill made it to law.

The debate has heated up since then. Those against the hunt say it serves no purpose in modern times as fox numbers are controlled by other animals. More foxes are killed on the roads than by hunting. They see it as a cruel, antiquated sport.

Those who support the hunt are driven by a sense of history and tradition, seeing it as an intrinsic part of living in the countryside. The British government says the fox hunt employs 8,000 people and attracts 1.2 million hunters.

A 1997 Labour party policy pledged "a free vote in Parliament on whether hunting with hounds should be banned." A private member's bill by Labour MP Michael Foster was introduced in November 1997 but hunt-supporting MPs managed to table hundreds of amendments. Foster withdrew the bill.

Two years later, Prime Minister Tony Blair announced he planned to make fox hunting illegal, and his government supported a backbencher's bill to ban the hunt. Hunt supporters reacted by setting up a national body, the Independent Supervisory for Hunting.

Home Secretary Jack Straw initiated a government inquiry into hunting with dogs. The committee, chaired by Lord Burns, presented its final report to Parliament in June 2000. It said banning hunting would have little effect on the number of foxes, and up to 8,000 jobs would be lost. Burns concluded that foxes suffer little physical pain when pursued, only when they don't die immediately.

The hunting bill cleared the House of Commons but the House of Lords voted against it in March 2001. By that time, a general election was called. After Blair won another term, more than 200 MPs demand the government honour its promise for a free vote on the fox hunt.

In September 2004, Blair's government revealed plans to give MPs a free vote on a bill that would lead to an outright ban on fox hunting. Soon after, five hunters broke onto the floor of the House of Commons as MPs debated the ban. About 10,000 protestors demonstrated outside Parliament the same day.

On Nov. 18, 2004, the House of Commons invoked the little-used Parliament Act to force the ban into law, despite opposition from the House of Lords. The act prevents Lords from blocking a bill in two successive sessions of Parliament. It will still be legal to shoot foxes, but hunting with hounds is prohibited, whether in pursuit of rabbits, deer or other animals.

The pro-hunt Countryside Alliance has already declared it will challenge the legality of the law. The alliance is also planning to take the issue to the European Court of Human Rights.

"We believe we have a very strong case," said Simon Hart, head of the alliance, at a news conference on Sept. 16, 2004.