The Spring Stag hunting season finished at the of April, after two months of pain, suffering and terror being inflicted upon, not only young stags in the South West, but the herds that reside there.
This season follows on from hind hunting which comes after Autumn Stag hunting. During March and April, the three stag hunt packs pick out and hound young Spring stags, pushing them beyond their limits, forcing them to endure horrifying ordeals, with the aim of finally killing them and carving up their bodies.
Sab groups have been attending meets; saving lives and documenting the cruelty and the exploitation of loopholes within the Hunting Act 2004 which enables these hunts to continue to bring terror to the South West. Below are a few documented incidents but the extent of abuse spans much wider than this.
On the 16th of March the Quantock Staghounds pushed a young stag beyond exhaustion. Sabs witnessed the stag panting and foaming at the mouth, before he was forced to endure another two hours of suffering. Eventually the stag became trapped up a wire fence, blood around his nose and a large cut to his chest where he had no doubt crashed into a fence in a desperate attempt to escape. A Mendip Hunt Sab came face to the face with this beautiful stag before he was ushered away by hunt staff who shot him, whooping and laughing as they did so.
Another example of the sheer cruelty and barbarity that is stag hunting is when on the 31st of March, the Devon & Somerset Staghounds targeted a stag that had part of one of his legs missing. They forced him to endure being chased by hounds, riders and quad bikes, before killing him. During the chase the stag was witnessed slipping and almost falling down a steep embankment whilst hunt supporters screamed and shouted to try and dictate his direction of travel.
At the Devon and Somerset Staghounds meet on the 18th of April, the initial target stag thankfully managed to evade the hunt, but not before being subjected to hours of being chased, with the huntsman riding directly at the herd, which included calves, to try and split them up. Realising this was a failed mission they moved on to terrorise an injured stag at Barton Wood. This stag had been seen limping and so was then forced to run for an hour in steep terrain before being shot. This is a direct contradiction of the ‘rescue’ of an injured or sick deer exemption which is in the Hunting Act 2004.
At the Quantock Staghounds closing meet on the 23rd of April, a young stag was forcibly contained in a small area and made to run with no chance to rest. Eventually, the brave stag decided to make a break for safety and despite riders and quad bikes positioning themselves illegally offroad to prevent him crossing the track, the stag broke through, heading in the direction of the League Against Cruel Sports’ New Ground Sanctuary. The exhausted stag continued to push on despite a gunman ready to take his life. North Dorset Hunt Sabs reported of “horrendous noise” coming from supporters in an attempt to scare the stag back, but thankfully he pushed on past them. The presence of a Wildlife Guardian investigator then forced the hunt to leave, with this young stag’s life saved.
Sadly, cruelty such as this is a regular occurrence at stag hunts as they continue to exploit loopholes within the Hunting Act 2004. An exemption which has been mentioned in this article is the “Rescue of a Wild Mammal.” One of the conditions of this exemption is that “reasonable steps are taken for the purpose of ensuring that as soon as possible after the wild mammal is found, appropriate action (if any) is taken to relieve its suffering.” However, as sabs witness time and time again and as is mentioned above, injured deer are forced to partake in the hunts sickening chase for hours before being shot.
Similarly, another loophole which is exploited is that of “Research and Observation.” This is often cited by pro-hunters despite there never being any research published since the Hunting Act 2004 was introduced. There is absolutely no evidence to support this excuse. In a paper entitled The Bateson Report which was published in 1997, Professor Bateson stated that “deer, particularly red deer are not adapted for long, endurance chases.” The study also reported that “hunted deer experienced extreme psychological terror and physical exhaustion.” Despite these findings deer are continually subjected to terrifying ordeals at the hands of the three remaining stag hunt packs in the South West.
The law must do better to protect our deer and ensure that they are not subjected to sadistic cruelty. Have your say and tell the government that this barbarity must stop.
Thank you to all the sabs who continue to expose the sickening cruelty of stag hunting, and additional thanks to North Dorset Hunt Sabs and Mendip Hunt Sabs for the images used in this article.
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