Hunting with dogs - Hunting Act 2004

Horrific fox’s death filmed by hunt saboteurs

Graphic footage of the Ledbury Hunt killing a fox has today been released. The incident happened on the 23rd November 2012 in a private garden in Eldersfield, Gloucestershire and was captured on film by members of Three Counties and Coventry Hunt saboteurs.

They were sadly too late to rescue the fox, but one did obtain film of the hounds repeatedly savaging the animal for a protracted period, whilst she and a colleague attempted to get the dogs off it. It is unclear at what point the fox succumbed to its multiple wounds, but when they were able to retrieve the animal from the pack it had been effectively disembowelled.

Footage of the kill, and from beforehand, is being examined by lawyers from the RSPCA to determine if there are grounds for prosecution under the Hunting Act. Results of a post-mortem are being withheld pending a decision.

The footage can be seen at http://www.huntsabs.org.uk/index.php/hunting/387-footage-of-the-ledbury-foxhounds-killing-a-fox

This incident is a sad contrast to the events of a week earlier when hunt monitors from POWA saved a fox from the Old Berks Hunt.

Hunt Details

Source: HSA