© 2024 Hunt Saboteurs Association
Distressing footage passed to the HSA by members of the public shows the Albrighton & Woodland Hunts out-of-control hounds rioting on, and killing, a muntjac deer yesterday during a cubbing meet near Seisdon, Staffordshire.
The footage begins by showing hounds spilling out of woodland onto a country lane with hunt staff nowhere to be seen, which is not unusual for this hunt who are well known for their lack of hound control, often seen still out after dark searching for lost hounds after a days hunting.
Left to their own devices it’s not long before they chase and attack a muntjac, whose screams of pain and terror prove that being set upon by a pack of hounds is anything but a quick and painless death.
Whipper in Phillipa Ward, girlfriend of Huntsman Paul Larby, finally arrives to round the hounds up but by this point, the damage is already done, and the poor muntjac is left bleeding to death at the edge of the field.
In an attempt to remove the evidence before police arrived Senior Master Wayne Yewbrey first tries to apologise and offers to “deal with it” but when members of the public refuse, he sends in terrier men Will Marks, and Arthur James who laughably try to deny they’re with the hunt.
Will is well known in the local area for running the terrier and lurcher show and working as a terrier man and kennel boy for the Albrighton & Woodland Hunt.
Once again, the brave members of the public managed to prevent them from destroying the evidence, keeping it there until police arrived.
As members of the hunt desperately try to use the smokescreen of trail hunting to fool Staffordshire Police, you can hear Huntsman Paul Larbys horn in the background as he continues to hunt.
Unfortunately hunt hounds rioting on deer or family pets is not unusual, and just further proves that hunts are as much a danger to wildlife as they are to the public.
A spokesperson for the Hunt Saboteurs Association stated:
“The public should be able to take a walk in the countryside without having to bear witness to wild animals being terrorised by organised criminals.
No animal – wild or domestic – is safe when packs of hounds are unleashed into the countryside. This incident proves once again that hunt hounds are still trained to chase and kill live animals, and not artificial trails as the hunts claim.”
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