In the late sixties and early seventies, the
free love movement also brought along with it a number of new
animal rights groups that protested the inhumane treatment of
animals. These groups set their sights firmly on the practice of
fox hunting; targeting it as cruel and inhumane to the fox, and
also raising issues about the ethical treatment of the dogs used
in the hunt as well.The main point of
contention was that many hunters considered a dog to be beyond its
usefulness once it was beyond five years old. Many hunters would
put down healthy dogs, based solely on their age and the
possibility of having outlived their usefulness. Public outcry
against the practice of fox hunting quickly resulted in the
popularity of the sport to decline. Critics declared publicly that
the sport was barbaric and uncivilized; causing it to fall out of
fashion with many of Britain's elite and wealthy. The sudden drop
in the popularity of the very sport that Jack Russell's were
famous for meant that a number of trainers and breeding operations
went out of business. The number of Jack Russell's being born
every year plummeted and their total numbers hit an all-time low,
endangering the beloved breed.
The sport of fox hunting did survive, and
the Jack Russell continued to be bred by remaining fox hunting
enthusiasts, the fox hunting industry as a whole is just much
smaller than it once was. With the drop of popularity in sports
considered to be "uncivilized", a renewed interest arose in
hobbies and activities that were considered acceptable. One such
hobby that experienced a new surge in interest was dog showing. As
previously mentioned, the Jack Russell Terrier has always had a
strange relationship with the dog show.
Most Jack Russell owners have resisted any
sort of grading of their animals based on their appearance, mostly
because the value many owners find in the breed is not in their
looks, but their working and problem solving skills. It is for
this reason that most organized events for Jack Russell's consist
of field trials and jumping exercises.
