Northern Ireland’s County Down Staghounds are to fold after two centuries of inflicting horrendous cruelty on deer.
The County Down are a ‘carted’ hunt meaning that they use captive deer – transported to the meet in a cart – as their quarry.
These wretched animals are kept in squalid conditions at the hunt kennels and, when hunted, suffer every bit of the terror experienced by their wild cousins.
There has been a litany of horrific incidents involving the County Down over the years, with terrified deer chased onto main roads, family pets killed, and hunt sabs attacked.
Northern Ireland Hunt Sabs, who broke the news of the hunt’s demise, explained:
“Last night we were at a meeting of local residents who had come together to make their voices heard as they had been terrorised by County Down Staghounds over the last number of years
The combination of hounds killing pets, the blood and gore from the ripping of stags and foxes, came to a head when an ambulance couldn’t get to a child who suffers from fits because the hunt was blocking the road.
We have caught them out carting which they continually have done over the years. They have had hunt masters come over from England – including the notorious Lee Peters – but we have sent them all packing.
They have been unable to fill the huntmaster post and we have had it confirmed by one of the hunt committee that they have disbanded in disarray. This is good news for wildlife, and one less hunt for us to contend with.”
Please support Northern Ireland Hunt Sabs who work in the only part of the UK where hunting is still legal – ko-fi.com/huntsabsni