Yet another fox torn apart in residential garden

Third such horrific incident in 2023.

A resident in Powys, Wales, has filmed a fox being torn apart by hunting hounds in a neighbour's garden. This is the third almost identical incident that we know of in 2023 alone.

The torturous death took place on 22 November 2023. One month later the resident reported her account to Nation.Cymru. She said that she initially saw 15 hounds on her lawn and in a field next door, upsetting her horse. Nation.Cymru stated:

"The resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, tried calling off the hounds, but despite screaming and shouting, nothing worked and she was left feeling traumatised.

A hunting horn was heard in a neighbouring field and two quad bikes and a 4X4 were seen on top of a nearby hill during the incident."

The woman then saw the fox being chased around a house and up a driveway to another house. The hounds then caught the poor creature and began tearing him apart. The witness said there was nothing left of the fox after they had finished.

The third such incident

As stated at the top of the article, this latest killing isn't an isolated incident. Protect the Wild has reported on two other similar murders of foxes being torn apart in residential gardens in 2023 alone.

On 14 January 2023, the East Kent with West Street Hunt (now known as the amalgamated Kent Hounds) killed a fox in a front garden in Westmarch, near Canterbury. As we reported at the time, hounds killed the fox after a two-hour chase. Footage posted by West Kent Hunt Sabs showed its members pulling the dead fox from the pack of hounds. The group also shared a stark photo of one member holding the dead fox. However, despite the footage, Kent Police said that it would take no further action against the hunt.

And then on 20 February 2023, West Norfolk Hunt hounds cornered and then tore apart a fox in a family's garden in Hingham, Norfolk. The incident was all caught on the family’s CCTV cameras, and was subsequently broadcast on ITV News. The footage shows one of the hunt’s terriermen scaling a fence, trespassing in the family’s garden, retrieving the fox’s dead body, and then – clearly hoping not to be caught – rushing out of the garden gate. He then tries to conceal the fox under his jacket. Norfolk Police later arrested three members of the hunt, presumably because it made nationwide headlines.

No further action

Nation.Cymru stated that the woman reported this latest killing to the police, but that the force closed the investigation "as no individuals can be linked to the event."

She said:

“I think it’s appalling that people get pleasure out of witnessing an animal being torn apart and that they can behave like this with impunity. I wish I could have seen the number plates of the vehicles – that would have helped the police with their inquiry."

The police's inaction is telling of how seriously police forces in the UK take fox hunting. Week in, week out, Protect the Wild reports on foxes being chased and murdered illegally for sick kicks. Although we are seeing more hunters being prosecuted, the amount of men who are found guilty of illegal hunting is negligible.

This is because when the Hunting Act 2004 was brought in by the Labour government, Tony Blair deliberately included loopholes to enable hunters to carry on as usual. Later on, he said that he had purposefully sabotaged the legislation, and that he had told the Home Office to steer police away from enforcing the Act.

The woman who witnessed this latest incident told Nation.Cymru:

“I’m also aware that hunts are using loopholes in the law to avoid prosecution and that there’s a need to tighten the legislation. I was aware that foxes were still being hunted, but had never seen anything like this before. Witnessing what I did really brings home the horror of it."

It's time to introduce the Hunting of Mammals Bill

Protect the Wild used to campaign for the Hunting Act to be strengthened. But we have changed our stance and argue that the Act needs to be scrapped completely and replaced with new, watertight legislation. Campaigning for the Hunting Act to be amended would only give the same pro-hunting politicians the opportunity once again to ensure that the law will remain tenuous.

Commissioned by Protect the Wild and prepared by lawyers at Advocates for Animals, we are campaigning for the Hunting of Mammals Bill to become law. This comprehensive piece of legislation, which would become the Hunting of Mammals Act when passed, would spell the end of fox hunting in England and Wales. Our legislation is black and white: there is no room for grey areas.

Under the Hunting of Mammals Bill, if a judge was doing their job properly, a hunt would find it very difficult to walk from court without a conviction. If someone intentionally or recklessly hunts a mammal using one or more dogs, he will be breaking the law and will be prosecuted. On top of this, a reckless clause, included in the legislation, would also ensure that hunts get convicted not just for hunting foxes, but for killing family pets, for worrying livestock, for trespassing on railway lines, and for causing havoc on busy roads.

We need your support to make this legislation a possibility. Hunting is an archaic blood sport that has no place in modern society, andt ogether we can end it for good.

• To read more about why the Hunting of Mammals Bill is the solution to end fox hunting for good, click here.

• To read the Hunting of Mammals Bill, click here.

• To sign our petition calling for a proper hunting ban through the implementation of the Hunting of Mammals Bill, click here.

Featured image via Nation.Cymru, and filmed by the witness

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