Hunt kills a fox, then huntsman grabs a hare to throw to hounds

The Puckeridge and Essex Union Hunt killed a fox, then seemingly threw a hare to hounds, in one morning.

Footage shared by East Herts Sabs will make any animal lover feel both sick and distressed. It shows huntsman Rhys Matcham getting off his horse, grabbing the hare, and riding off with her as hounds follow excitedly.

The sabs wrote an account of what happened, saying:

"After killing a fox earlier that morning, as the hunt crossed a ploughed field sabs noticed a hound leap into the furrow and realised it had found a young hare. As sabs started shouting to leave it, the huntsman made a half-hearted attempt to call the hound back and the young hare desperately tried to make its escape but we could tell it was injured. Within seconds 4 hounds were then on the hare as sabs closed in screaming at the huntsman to call them off.

As sabs went to film, Rhys cracked his whip and the hounds departed. He jumped off his horse and grabbed the hare, who you can clearly hear in great distress. As Pearson the master closed in to make sure sabs didn't intervene, they pleaded with Rhys to give them the hare so it could be driven to a vets minutes away, but he refused and rode off clutching the frightened injured hare who was still very much alive. We were sickened as at one point as he held it out at arm's length with the hounds below, it must have been so terrified. This is a total disregard for such a beautiful young animal, but that's this hunt through and through.

Sabs continued to run after Rhys but Pearson and a female rider overtook them and they went off at pace. Only a few minutes later as we caught up with them by Fairfield Lodge, the hare was nowhere to be seen and we suspect it had been thrown to the hounds."

A disgraceful hunt

The Puckeridge and Essex Union Hunt has existed since last season, when the Puckeridge merged with the Essex with Farmers and Union. The amalgamation was indication that the hunting industry is dying - but this is zero consolation for the hare and fox killed this week, and for the countless other animals who have been terrorised or lost their lives due to these criminals.

In July 2023, Hertfordshire Police issued the newly merged hunt with a Community Protection Notice. Hertfordshire Constabulary and Essex Constabulary respectively had already issued both the Puckeridge and the Essex with Farmers and Union with Community Protection Warnings in 2022.

Some of the conditions of the CPN were for the hunt to:

• Create a map of where every/all trail(s) is (are) laid – recording this on video on every hunt or training event and provide a copy of the same map and copies of trails within 48 hours of police request.

• Have a trail hunt member present with a copy of the map and knowledge of where the trail is laid on every hunt or training event/day.

Writing about these latest kills, East Herts Sabs said:

"Thanks to a couple of anonymous tip offs, we can now confirm that the hunt had already reported to the police killing a fox earlier that morning. No doubt they tried to make out it was an accident, but we know there is no such thing as an accident with the Puck & Essex. They don't trail hunt and they hunted numerous foxes Saturday morning, but we are pleased to report that a least a couple of those foxes were seen to safety by our team."

Police need to take action

The sabs have stated that they will pass on statements and footage to Hertfordshire Police. Let's hope that the force takes further action against this hunt, which seemingly thinks it is invincible, and has likely employed huntsman Matcham because he, too, thinks he is untouchable. Matcham is renowned for hunting foxes, and appeared in court, along with renowned hunter Ollie Finnegan, in 2021 with the Quorn Hunt. That case was dropped part way through, with the CPS stating there was no prospect of conviction, even though League Against Cruel Sports footage had shown a fox emerging from a covert.

Also in 2021, Matcham, who had moved to the Beaufort Hunt, was caught on the Hunt Investigation Team's covert cameras, along with kennelman Nick Hopkins. The two were captured murdering hounds by shooting them in their heads. The footage secured from the investigation was the first time that a hunt had finally been caught on camera shooting its hounds.

In 2022, Matcham was charged with illegal hunting again, this time with the Beaufort Hunt. The case was dropped at the last minute. In late 2023, he was caught on video encouraging his hounds to hunt a fox when he was huntsman of the North Shropshire Hunt.

It is clear that Matcham - a cold-hearted animal abuser - will stop at nothing to get kills. The Hunting Act has failed to stop him, and he has walked away from his crimes unscathed. It's time for the Labour government to keep its pledge and ban fox hunting for good.

You can support East Herts Sabs, who did their best to try to save the fox and hare from getting killed, by donating to their fuel costs here.