A stag swims for his life before being brutally killed by hunters

Four hours of 'sport' for the Devon and Somerset Staghounds ends with shooting

The Labour government needs to urgently act and ban hunting after more footage has revealed a hunt killing a stag. The deer was chased for more than four hours before desperately swimming for his life. He was then brutally killed.

North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs were joined by Mendip Hunt Sabs as they tried to prevent the Devon and Somerset Staghounds from making the kill on 24 August.

After the hours-long attempt to escape from the hunt and its hounds, the stag ran out of energy. North Dorset Sabs explained what happened in the last moments of his life:

"Sabs immediately jumped a fence and ran down to the water to intervene. Here we saw the most horrific sight of the stag’s last efforts to survive. The stag had managed to get back past the dogs and was now swimming for his life, his antlers had become encased in vegetation in his struggle and his nose was bleeding. Sabs jumped into the river but weren’t able to stop the dogs who took us by surprised when they shot past close behind. Back on the bridge, the remaining sab attempted to calm yobs intent on pursuing sabs. The huntsman arrived and tried to block the sab with his horse."

A stag, pursued by the Devon and Somerset Staghounds, desperately swims for his life. Footage by North Dorset Hunt Sabs

'Quick, shoot it'

The sabs continued:

"Sabs exited the river finding themselves in a field of dead sheep. Hounds could be heard stationary again in the river at the other end. Followers and riders tried to block sabs from approaching, but one sab got past and continued up the river. Suddenly the terrified stag ran back down the river towards the remaining sab.

The other sab ran to stop the dogs and found the exhausted stag standing at bay in the river below and a familiar gunman pointing his weapon at the stag. A standoff ensured as the sab ordered the gunman to “break his gun”. Approaching from the river, bed the first sab saw the gunman in the water and heard someone saying “quick shoot it”. A crack rang out, and the stag ran off. He hadn’t been shot though, the crack was a whip, they’d hit him to get him to move away from the safety of the sab."

This Devon and Somerset gunwoman hopes to be the one to kill the stag. Photo by North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs

Salivating over the kill

Despite their best efforts to save the animal, the sabs were attacked by the hunt:

"The stag ran on and sabs were assaulted by hunt members, thrown to the ground and driven into by a quad bike. A shot rang out and it was over. He had been on the run for over 4 hours. Riders massed at the riverside to see the stag’s body and followers gathered at the farm clearly waiting for “the viewing” or even a carve up."

After being slaughtered by a hunt, the stag is butchered. Different parts of his body — such as the head with its antlers, and the slots (the hooves and the bottom part of the leg) — are taken as trophies. Even the teeth can be taken as mementoes of the murder, while the land owner might take the stag’s heart.

Kelway, the Devon and Somerset Staghounds gunman who kills the stag. Photo by North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs

Devon and Somerset Staghounds member walks down the road with the stag's blood down his leg. Photo by North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs

Hunting Act loophole

The footage and images shared by the sabs are hauntingly similar to those that were published after another Devon and Somerset Staghounds kill on the 20 April. Photos show the same killer, and yet another stag trapped in a river. It is appalling - but unsurprising - to hear that the police didn't charge members of the hunt. After all, staghound hunts continue to get away with their gruesome bloodsport as if they are completely untouchable.

Like fox hunters, staghound hunts take advantage of the loopholes in the Hunting Act. The Devon and Somerset Staghounds use different loopholes to fox hunters, though; under the Hunting Act, a mammal can be ‘flushed’ out by a maximum of two hounds and shot, or to relieve it of suffering. It can also be killed in the name of ‘research and observation’ - and this is the loophole that the Devon and Somerset Staghounds relies upon these days. The conditions of the loophole include the use of no more than two dogs, that the dogs do not injure the animal they’re chasing, and most importantly that the hunting is conducted for the “observation or study” of a wild mammal.

The pack says that it is using just two hounds, yet it uses its pack of dogs in a relay – that is, it switches two hounds for two others, and then two more, over the many hours a stag is chased. It has replaced the full pack of hounds with multiple people on quad bikes. To read more about the research and observation loophole, visit Protect the Wild's explanation here.

Devon and Somerset Staghounds' quad bikes terrorise stags. Photo by North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs

With the police and landowners (including National Park authorities), doing absolutely nothing the three remaining staghounds packs in the southwest of England will continue to kill with impunity from August til the end of April.

Labour needs to take note and urgently step up, keep its promises and close ALL loopholes in the Hunting Act.

• Support the sabs who stood in the way of the Devon and Somerset Staghounds - donate to North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs here and Mendip Hunt Sabs here.

• Read The Secret Monitor accounts of these disgusting and cruel stag hunts and their supporters - eg Want to trespass with a firearm on public land? Join a stag hunt and Dishing the dirt on stag hunting

Images and video provided by North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs