On Saturday 8th November, Lake District Hunt Sabs filmed the Coniston Foxhounds in the act of digging out a fox and ripping her to pieces. Just weeks before the government’s hunting consultation is due to begin, hunt saboteurs have once again exploded the myth of trail hunting!
When the HSA showed the footage to presenter and naturalist Chris Packham, he commented:
“I feel sick. Sick. What sort of psychopaths do this and more importantly why are this government allowing them to get away with it? Labour’s manifesto was unambiguous – they promised to ban hunting with hounds. The Secretary of State Emma Reynolds should watch this now and then pick up the phone and get the bloody job done. The nation voted for change not cruelty.”
Using a powerful drone, sabs film as the Coniston Foxhounds have run a fox to ground. The hunters have already sent a terrier underground to attack the fox, and several of them are involved in digging at different sites across the fellside.
A bald man is seen waving a terrier location device – linked to a collar worn by the terrier – as he walks down the slope to identify the site of the underground battle between fox and terrier.
The hunters then focus their attentions on the lower slope and six of them crowd around a hole. A fox bolts from the hole with a white terrier clamped to her hindquarters. The bald male grabs the struggling fox’s brush, while a youth seizes her by the scruff of the neck. The bald man rips the terrier away – blood and injuries are visible on the poor dog’s face – while the youth carries the fox some distance up the fellside towards a wooded area.
Believing he is now concealed, the youth throws the fox to the hounds. The hounds rip into the fox as more sick hunters arrive to enjoy the spectacle of her being torn to pieces.
All video evidence is now with police and – be assured – there is much, much more to come on this story and the individuals involved.
A spokesperson for Lake District Hunt Saboteurs commented:
“The brutality witnessed here is a regular occurrence for this hunt – we’ve been alerted to it many times by hunt followers who cannot abide the extremely cruel practices of digging and bolting that are carried out on a regular basis. Amongst the fell packs, the Coniston Foxhounds in particular take wildlife crime to its extremes.”
An HSA spokesperson added:
“This damning video exposes the Coniston Foxhounds as an Organised Crime Gang operating with impunity in our beautiful Lake District. Now that the full fox hunting season is underway, they will be out hunting three days a week until the end of March. We demand that the police do whatever it takes to stop them now – before more foxes are ripped to pieces.”
Every week Lake District Hunt Sabs take on some of the country’s most violent hunts in some of its toughest terrain. They deserve your support.
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