Bolebroke Beagles Kennel Squalor

Neglected hounds, kennels covered in urine, excrement and algae-infested drinking water.

Grim footage has emerged of a hunt kennels which depicts a depressing scene of neglected hunt hounds, resorting to drinking algae-infested water, and eating their own faeces.

Hunt saboteurs from West Kent Hunt Sabs took a routine drive-by to the Bolebroke Beagles kennels in Cliffe, near Rochester one Saturday early in March to check if they were out hunting. This beagle pack are normally out twice a week hunting hares and were previously caught on this drone footage hunting and killing a hare. On this occasion, sabs found the beagles in the yard of their faeces riddled kennels. The dire scene which sabs encountered was so distressing, that they decided to monitor the kennels over a period of just over two weeks, making twice daily covert visits to record the scene.

On several occasions hounds were witnessed to be eating the faeces from the yard floor, which by now had not been cleaned for days at a time, with several dozen dogs using the floor as a toilet throughout. Sabs observed that it was five days before anyone even made an attempt to clean up the faeces and urine.

Sabs further witnessed that water buckets were not changed for long periods of time. Other hounds were also seen to tiptoe around the carpet of faeces as they made their way to drink from depleted water buckets which could be seen to have green algae present.

This hunt has form in animal cruelty and neglect when it comes to their own hounds. Previously, when this hunt has been sabbed by East Kent Sabs at Chainhurst, in January 2022, the hunt called off the meet, but they left the hounds in the hound trailer for over 6 hours without water or food or access to toileting or exercise areas.

Hunts often lie to claim they ‘love’ their hounds, and often display them at countryside shows. But the reality behind this façade is that their lives are short and miserable, couped up in filthy cold and depressing kennels, devoid of enrichment or stimulation, they are neglected and ignored by those who are supposed to be caring for them. At no point did sabs witness any human interaction with the hounds during the two weeks of monitoring.

West Kent Sabs have provided video and photo evidence to both the RSPCA and local Trading Standards officials. The RSPCA did visit the kennels but hunt staff denied them access. They left having only offered ‘advice’ on how the dogs should be looked after.

West Kent Sabs said:

“This is a shocking way to treat animals, made even worse by the fact they use these hounds to chase and torment wildlife. We will be keeping an eye on the kennels to check they have improved their care of the dogs since the RSPCA visit and we will continue to report them to the authorities if there is no improvement in these conditions”.