Fox-hunt ban urged in Bucks parks after biting incident

New Year's Day was unseasonably warm, perfect for Judy and John Cox to take their two Labrador retrievers for a long walk in the Bucks County park that runs up to their backyard in Jamison.

After walking for about 15 minutes with Daisy and Ganter, the couple spotted about 20 horse riders, accompanied by 24 hounds, across Neshaminy Creek.

The Coxes, who have lived next to Dark Hollow Park for six years, recognized the scene - a fox hunt - and immediately headed for home, about a quarter-mile away. They made it to within 50 yards of their house when a pack of the hounds knocked down Judy Cox and Daisy, who is 10 years old, blind, and hobbled by arthritis.

"The hounds must have gotten Daisy's scent, because they made a beeline for her," Judy Cox said Tuesday. "Five dogs charged us and were biting us. Luckily, my husband was there, and he kicked them and tried to get them off."

The rest of the hounds quickly reached the scene, followed by a rider who called off the dogs, Cox said.

The hunt's organizer called what happened "unfortunate," but said it was a rare occurrence.

Cox, however, is not happy.

"I can appreciate the history and heritage of the sport, but a Bucks County park is not the place for it," Cox said. "I was lucky my husband was there to help me. What if it was a little kid? A short time later, there was a family with three young children walking a black Lab" in the park.

Cox told her story Tuesday night to Warwick Township's three supervisors, who include her husband. The supervisors voted unanimously to urge the county commissioners to ban fox hunts in Bucks parks.

"It is such a public safety risk that it should be a no-brainer," Cox said after the meeting. "But that's not the reaction we've gotten from the commissioners. They just say that they're investigating."

The three county commissioners said Wednesday that they had not known about the hunts until this incident. The director of parks and recreation is looking into the matter, and that department's advisory board should also get involved, Commissioner Chairman Rob Loughery said.

"It's unfortunate that it happened," Loughery said, "but I don't think it's appropriate to stop the hunts until we examine the procedures and protocols for all activities in our parks. We can't just look at one incident."

The New Year's Day hunts have been going on since 1914, "and this is the first incident close to our property," Parks and Recreation Director Bill Mitchell said. "There was no request for a 2012 permit - we'll be examining it."

The hunt, known as the Huntingdon Valley Hunt, is much more than an annual event. Fox Heath, a 77-acre equestrian facility in Furlong, offers hunts in Dark Hollow Park and other sites every Wednesday and Sunday from September through March.

Fox Heath gets permits for the hunts from the county and the state Game Commission, said Richard Harris, who founded the facility with his wife, Claire, in 1970.

"We go through the woods and look for an area where a fox's territory may be," Harris said. "Dark Hollow has lots of deer, foxes, and raccoons. The test is to find the trail of a fox, not of a squirrel or other animal."

The point is to track the fox, not to capture it, Harris said.

"Some days, we just ride" without catching a scent," Harris said. "A good day is when we track a fox until he runs into his den and hangs out there. We figure that he gave up."

Fox hunting is the country's oldest sport, dating to George Washington's time, Harris said. Fox Heath riders range in age from 8 to their 80s, "from all walks of life - housewives, kids, retired Philadelphia cops," he said.

There are similar hunts in Chester County and the countryside from Virginia through New England, Harris said.

The American fox hounds, whose bloodlines also go back to colonial times, are trained to track only foxes, he said. Cases in which the hounds have gone after other animals happen "very infrequently."

In October 1994, hounds on two Huntingdon Valley Hunts killed a cat and bit two sheep. Harris said he did not remember those incidents.

On New Year's Day, the Coxes and their Labs "were walking near a trail where a fox had run," Harris said. "There was an interaction of our dogs and their dog. . . . It was unfortunate - it happened so fast."

Daisy suffered puncture wounds on her ear, stomach and leg, said Judy Cox, who adopted the yellow Lab after it was attacked by a pit bull. The dog is on antibiotics but could develop abscesses, she said, adding that Harris agreed to cover the vet bills.

Judy Cox sustained bruises on her arms, "one small bite wound, and scratches from the dogs' teeth," she said. "Luckily, I was wearing a heavy sweatshirt."

Warwick Township police referred the case to the county District Attorney's Office "because they thought it was more than a dog-running-at-large charge," John Cox said.

The D.A.'s Office referred the case to the state Attorney General's Office to avoid a conflict of interest, District Attorney David Heckler said. Richard Harris' brother works in the D.A.'s Office.

A ban on the hunts in county parks would be "very disappointing," Claire Harris said, "especially Dark Hollow, which Hunt members were instrumental in preserving as a park."

There were plans for a dam before the county dedicated the 750 acres that stretch from Doylestown to Rushland as a park in 1989.

"We maintain that park, its paths, and the public benefits from that," Claire Harris said.

For Judy Cox, it's a matter of feeling safe in a county park and in her yard.

"I just want it [the fox hunting] stopped so we can be on our property," she said. "We have a grandchild now. It's terrifying that she could be in our yard and be attacked.

"The potential for disaster is definitely there."

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