Yesterday, four members of the notorious Blackmore & Sparkford Vale Hunt were found guilty at Weymouth Magistrates Court of hunting a wild mammal with dogs in breach of the Hunting Act.
The case was based on drone footage captured by North Dorset Hunt Sabs showing the extended pursuit of a fox around buildings at Pelsham Farm, Buckhorn Weston, Dorset in early December 2023. In the heartbreaking footage – originally aired on Channel 4 back in January 2024 – terriermen, hunt staff and hunt followers are seen surrounding buildings, pointing out the fox, and encouraging hounds to hunt her line. At one point, the terrified animal appears to make her escape, but she is eventually cornered in a field and ripped to pieces.
Police who attended on the day found the fox’s severed leg and internal organs on the ground.
In court, the hunter’s defence tried every dirty trick in the book, including making the ludicrous claim that the huntsman couldn’t hear the hounds in cry over the sound of cows mooing in a barn and a tractor driving past!
An HSA spokesperson commented,
“We welcome these convictions, which come less than a week after the government announced a consultation on finally banning trail hunting. Just days ago, Tim Bonner of the Countryside Alliance was crowing about hunting’s ‘commitment to high standards in all things, most especially in the conduct of trail hunting’.
Bonner’s words have never sounded more hollow – everybody knows that trail hunting is a smokescreen used to conceal disgusting cruelty perpetrated by the likes of the Blackmore & Sparkford Vale Hunt.”
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