[ Sporting Magazine ]
The Sporting Magazine (1792 - 1870) is considered the first general sporting magazine, though in its later decades it gave considerable emphasis to fox hunting. But it published all manner of sporting-related material, from news stories to poetry to calendars of upcoming sporting events. The subtitle of this magazine was "Monthly Calendar of the Transactions of the Turf, the Chace, and every other Diversion interesting to the Man of Pleasure, Enterprize and Spirit." [more at Wikipedia]
The issue included an article which discussed the fact foxes are not always to be blamed when lambs are killed:
I can give them two instances of mistake. A butcher, when I had a few couples of fox-hounds, asked me to hunt a fox which had killed a lamb for him the night before. I immediately took my cry to the spot, ball'd a large-footed animal, and finally hunted up to the kennel of a Newfoundland dog, who had a lamb or two buried near, that he might have them to taste venison fashion. (226 - 227)