The cruelty of killing fox cubs for sport is highlighted in a TV sports show parody created by Engine Creative (a London agency officially rebranding as House 337 in September) for Keep The Ban–a non-profit organization that campaigns against the hunting of wildlife for sport, including the killing of fox cubs through a practice called “cubbing” which is used to prepare the hounds for the foxhunting season.
“Cubbing,” the equivalent of the “pre-season” for foxhunting–which typically occurs in late August and September–involves hunters training their dogs to kill fox cubs as they are easier to catch than adult foxes.
The practice is responsible for slaughtering thousands of defenseless fox cubs in England and Wales each year. Yet few members of the public know about it–88% of people have never heard of it, and just 5% know what it is. But when it is explained, 69% of people are against it, according to Keep The Ban research conducted in July 2022.
Under the 2004 Hunting Act, fox hunting, deer hunting, and hare hunting are illegal in the U.K. Several exemptions under the act are used by fox hunts to avoid prosecution, however, making it difficult for the police and Crown Prosecution Service to enforce the hunting ban–a situation Keep The Ban is campaigning to change.
To support Keep The Ban’s work, Engine set out to raise awareness of cubbing and help efforts to persuade more people to support the campaign against it.
Inspired by groups in charge of fox hunts rebranding to The British Hound Sports Association earlier this year, Keep The Ban wanted to lambast the ridiculousness of seeing this barbaric act as a sport. So it set out to present cubbing as the World’s Worst Sport.
In this film titled “The World’s Worst Sport” and directed by The Glue Society, a television sports presenter and expert commentator in a TV studio discuss the countdown to a cubbing session as they might preview a football match, also interacting with a reporter “live” from a field where the families of foxes live. The film has been launched on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
