© 2025 Hunt Saboteurs Association
As hunts across the country prepare to gather for their Boxing Day meets, the HSA has been passed horrifying footage of so-called ‘trail hunters’ digging a fox from its underground refuge and throwing it – alive – to a pack of hounds.
The video, shot on Christmas Eve 2020 near Melksham, was a key piece of evidence in the recent RSPCA-led conviction of two members of the Avon Vale Hunt.
It opens with a group of hunters and hounds gathered around an area of recently dug earth, where a fox has sought refuge after being hunted. One uniformed hunter, Oliver Thompson, sits deep in the hole trying to locate the terrified fox.
He is assisted by Charlie Ball – the terrierman in the tan jacket – who uses a spade to trap the fox in position. Ball then pulls the spade away, allowing Thompson to grab the fox and throw it to the baying hounds. The hunters then ‘whoop’ with delight as the fox is torn to pieces. As the video closes, Thompson is seen slapping the dark-coated terrierman on the back in celebration.
Incredibly, a young child – whose identity we have concealed – is present at this disgusting spectacle, with the adults appearing to encourage his active participation.
An HSA spokesperson commented:
“Two days after the appalling events of this video, the Avon Vale Hunt were parading through the village of Lacock, their traditional Boxing Day meet.
Nothing could more clearly illustrate the contrast between the sanitised pageantry of Boxing Day meets and the sordid, criminal reality of what hunts actually do when they think only their cronies are looking on.
As we count down towards a general election, the HSA is working hard to ensure that a future government closes the many loopholes in the Hunting Act – and makes this the last time criminal hunts can gather on Boxing Day.”
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