One of the many disturbing aspects of the recent drone video that led to the conviction of Stowe Beagles Kennel Huntsman Philip Kennedy is the way that he and others gloat over the hounds ripping the hare to pieces.
This was an aspect of the video noted by Northamptonshire Police Rural Crime Team who commented:
“Even after the hare was dead, Kennedy and the rest of the group, stood and shook hands in a congratulatory manner instead of stepping in to stop the dogs from continuing to attack the hare.”
In fact, the behaviour shown is precisely what a hare (or fox) hunt did when hunting was legal and demonstrates – as the HSA has been saying for over 20 years – that hunting has continued exactly as it did before the passing of the Hunting Act.
In hunting parlance this practice is known and as “the worry” or “breaking up” the hare. It is an absolutely essential part of keeping the hounds in blood and ensuring that they maintain their motivation for hunting their quarry. In his book Beagling J. C Jeremy Hobson advises that:
“…the corpse should be retrieved as quickly as possible and then thrown back to the hounds for them to break up. This should be done whilst they are still excited and… will teach the hounds something exciting is going on and that they had better stick with the huntsman unless they want to miss the fun.”
This behaviour – together with the congratulatory handshaking amongst the beaglers – is compelling evidence that the Stowe Beagles hunt hares are on a regular basis and have obviously done so illegally for the last twenty years.
It seems that the £47,000-a-year Stowe School has been running an Organised Crime Group from its premises: the Stowe Beagles must be shut down with immediate effect.
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