Ahead of the year’s main Boxing Day hunt,
saboteurs say hunters are not obeying the law and loopholes must be closed
Tue 26 Dec ‘17 06.00 GMTLast
modified on Tue 26 Dec ‘17 06.02 GMT
As horses, hounds and hunters gather on the
busiest day of the year for fox hunting, activists have raised concerns that
trail-hunting is being used as a cover for bloodsport more than a decade after
it was banned in the UK.
At least 300 hunts are expected to take place
across the country on Boxing Day. Riders on horseback gallop behind a pack of
hounds directed by a huntsman while terriermen, whose traditional role was to
dig foxes out of holes so they could be hunted, follow on quad bikes. Hunt
supporters bring up the rear on foot. They all say they’re legally
trail-hunting – following an animal-based scent, often fox urine – with hounds
for sport.
Engaged in a half-century game of cat and
mouse with the hunters are the Hunt Saboteurs, a nonviolent direct action group
who attempt to document and prevent the killing of animals. They say these
hunts are not obeying the law and that recent videos apparently showing a huntswoman
whipping an activist repeatedly and a female
saboteur being assaulted requiring hospital treatment are just the tip
of the iceberg.
The saboteurs believe hunting for bloodsport
is continuing and that trail-hunting is an effective cover.
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