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Hunt saboteurs who had saved a fox from death told how they were attacked and the fox was thrown live to a pack of hounds at a hunt near Pulborough, West Sussex at the weekend (20 September 2003).
Hunt saboteur Paul Loader had managed to intervene when 8 hounds from the Chiddingfold Leconfield and Cowdray Hunt were mauling a fox at Pithingdean Farm. The fox was obviously still alive and traumatised, nipping at Paul as he carried it to a nearby colleague. Their intention was to get the animal emergency veterinary attention and save its life.
Paul was then throttled by a huntsman and his finger lacerated on a barbed wire fence as he held the wire. His colleague (a first time saboteur who comes from the United States) grabbed the fox and was attacked by another member of hunt staff and his mobile phone was broken. Once wrestled from the safety of the saboteur’s arms, the fox – still alive – was thrown to the waiting pack of hounds.
The protestors have made formal complaints of assault and given statements at Pulborough police station.
The hunt staff at the Chiddingfold, Leconfield and Cowdray hunt are notorious among hunt saboteurs for their violent behaviour.
A fox rescued from hounds by saboteurs at the same hunt in February 1999, nicknamed Copper, made headlines when a policeman’s helmet was used to block an earth. The vet who subsequently attended Copper confirmed that he was suffering extreme stress from being chased. Copper’s case provided firm evidence that hounds do not kill instantly with a “nip to the back of the neck” as claimed by fox hunters and was submitted to the government’s Burns Inquiry.
HSA spokesperson, Nathan Brown, commented “The hunting fraternity know that their tissue of lies is destroyed every time we save a fox that has been mauled by hounds, or retrieve the carcass. Veterinary examination will show that death by hounds is neither swift nor painless, so huntsmen will use any means to retrieve the animal – including violence.”
The Hunting Bill had its Second Reading in the House of Lords on Tuesday 16th September
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