Foxes and farmers have never got on well. These small dog-like animals have long been accu

sed of killing farm animals. They are officially classified as harmful and farmers try to keep their numbers down by shooting or poisoning them.

Farmers can also call on the services of their local hunt to control the fox population. Hunting consists of pursuing a fox across the countryside, with a group of specially trained dogs, followed by men and women riding horses. When the dogs finally catch the fox they kill it or a hunter shoots it.

People who take part in hunting think of it as a sport; they wear a special uniform. of red coats and white trousers, and follow strict codes of behavior. But owning a horse and hunting regularly is expensive, so most hunters are wealthy.

It is estimated that up to 100, 000 people watch or take part in fox hunting. But over the last couple of decades the number of people opposed to fox hunting, because they think it is brutal (残酷的).

Nowadays it is rare for a hunt to pass off without some kind of confrontation (冲突) between hunters and hunt saboteurs (阻拦者). Sometimes these incidents lead to violence, but mostly saboteurs interfere with the hunt by misleading riders and disturbing the trail of the fox's smell, which the dogs follow.

Noisy confrontations between hunters and saboteurs have become so common that they are almost as much a part of hunting as the pursuit of foxes itself. But this year supporters of fox hunting face a much bigger threat to their sport. A Labour Party Member of the Parliament, Mike Foster, is trying to get Parliament to approve a new law which will make the hunting of wild animals with dogs illegal. If the law is passed, wild animals like foxes will be protected under the ban in Britain.

Rich people in Britain have been hunting foxes______.

A．for recreation

B．to limit the fox population

C．in the interests of the farmers

D．to show off their wealth