C Davies (Mailbox November 26) tells us of the destruction foxes do. He/she says they attack domestic cats, hens and lambs. Farmers have to bring animals indoors.

All the years I worked on farms we never had one lamb killed by a fox. We did bring them into the stockyard at night when the ewes were lambing but only so that we could check them now and again to make sure there was no lambing problems. We also brought them in for the first week or two afterwards if the weather was very wet and cold. Even then the stockyard was in no way fox proof.

As for domestic cats, the only one we had killed was by the hounds. I've read of quite a few cats and small dogs being worried by the hounds. One such was right outside a school playground in front of the children.

I've also stood and watched may times as a cat and fox have sat quite unconcerned a few feet from each other and yet when they see a dog they both flee.

As for foxes moving nearer to people this is because we are taking more and more of the countryside up with houses so they don't have much choice.

One very experienced vet once said to me as he treated a cow which had been injured because of the thoughtlessness of the huntsmen. He said huntsmen and hounds do far more damage than the fox ever does.

If C Davies thinks that people go hunting because of the damage the fox does he/she is living in cloud cuckoo land. They go because they get pleasure seeing a defenceless animal ripped to bits. Otherwise why do they breed foxes to make sure there's plenty to hunt.

G A Wright, Leicester.