The Stowe School Beagles – dubbed “cruel and illegal” by Northamptonshire Police – have won a major prize at hunting’s showcase event, the Festival of Hounds.
Last week the HSA reported on the event, a dismal gathering of hardcore hunters on a patch of waste ground near the A1.
Not only were the Stowe, who were convicted of brutally killing a hare just weeks ago, allowed to participate in the event, they won the best Doghound category in the beagle show!
This year the so-called festival was run by the British Hound Sports Association, an outfit that claims to be the regulatory body of hunting. However, instead of investigating the Stowe Beagles, the BHSA has lauded them in the showring: as we have said from the outset, the Festival of Hounds is a celebration of illegal hunting.
Early signs had been that the Stowe Beagles were attempting to keep a low profile. Stowe’s Headteacher – a puppy walker for the hunt – has ignored our polite letter expressing concern at the activities of the pack and removed the reference to hunt kennelman Philip Kennedy from their website.
However, their appearance at the Festival of Hounds is a grim but predictable reminder that hunters will stop at nothing to persecute our wildlife.
In just a few weeks the Stowe Beagles, together with the forty or so other beagle packs, will be heading out on early morning meets to target leverets with their new hounds.
We need to be there to stop them.
The HSA would be interested to receive information on the activities of the Stowe Beagles. All information is used with caution and treated in the strictest confidence – whatever side of the hunting fence you sit on.
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