Nine Foxhounds Shot Dead in Forty Minutes

WARNING: Distressing footage showing foxhounds being shot

Horrific and previously unseen footage reveals the true extent of the hound killings at the Carmarthenshire Hunt. Filmed as part of Ecotricity’s investigation into dead animals being used to create electricity, the footage once again proves that hounds are treated by hunts as no more than expendable tools.

In September 2021, the huntsman of the Carmarthenshire Hunt, Will Pinkney, was filmed shooting dead a total of nine foxhounds in a 40-minute period. In the harrowing video, one hound is even seen looking up at Pinkney, as he callously shoots the dog in the head.

After the killings take place, the remaining pack can be heard howling and mourning for their dead pack members, fully aware of the grisly end they had met.

A mere three months afterwards, in December last year, Pinkney said to members of South Wales Hunt Saboteurs present at one of their meets:

“I just don’t want you people thinking that I don’t like the hounds. […] I love them. These are my life.”

And:

“All the bullshit you put on about not caring for them and not liking them and they are just a tool; you couldn’t be further from the truth.”

With huntsmen often lying about following trails, is it surprising that they also lie about how they treat their hounds? However, when pressed about how many hounds he ‘replaces’ each season, Pinkney more truthfully replied:

“I tend to have about half a dozen a year, to be honest.”

Hunts routinely cull hounds they deem to be too old or slow for the pack, or those who ‘speak’ on scents other than the intended quarry. Sadly, the scenes exposed at the Carmarthenshire Hunt are a glimpse of what occurs at hunt kennels across the UK, as thousands of hounds are killed each year.