Saboteurs release video of fox kill near Shipston - claiming police have given 'green light to illegal hunting'

Anti-hunting protesters claim their newly released video demonstrates that Warwickshire Hunt is illegally hunting rather than ‘trail hunting’ (following a scent trail over jumps through the countryside).

And West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs (WMHS) say police have given the hunt a ‘green light’ to continue hunting by failing to see through a Community Protection Order (CPO) which had ordered the hunt to declare when it would cross roads. The CPO was dropped days before an appeal by Warwickshire Hunt was due to be heard.

The new video shows hounds killing a fox as saboteurs try to stop it.

WMHS said: “On Monday, October 9, members of West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs filmed a fox fleeing from the Warwickshire Hunt hounds near Honington whilst a member of Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs filmed a fox being caught and killed by the hounds on top of Idlicote Hill on the Idlicote House Estate.

"The footage from the saboteurs body-worn camera shows the pack of hounds ragging the body about as the saboteur approaches the pack of hounds, before a rider from the hunt takes the body away.”

The saboteur claimed a member of the hunt assaulted them and threw them to the ground, preventing them from getting to the fox. Both the fox kill and the assault have been reported to the police.

Chief Inspector Steve Davies of Warwickshire Police said: “We have been sent footage and we are currently investigating allegations of offences.”

A spokesperson for West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs said: “The Warwickshire Hunt seem to have an air of being untouchable since Warwickshire Police dropped the Community Protection Order against them for antisocial behavior on public roads.

"Several foxes were seen running away from the hunt, all of them in places that we have previously seen foxes running from the hounds.

"Why do the Warwickshire Hunt repeatedly take their hounds to places where they know the hounds are likely to find foxes?

"They can’t claim this was an accident while purposely and continuously taking their hounds to these places.

"It is also unacceptable that a saboteur was assaulted and thrown to the ground by a member of the hunt, preventing them from helping the fox.”

The Warwickshire Hunt was days from appealing against the Community Protection Order when it was dropped.

A spokesman for the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) said: “It looked likely the hunt would lose their appeal, with the CPN conditions making it almost impossible for an illegal hunt to operate as normal, whilst also setting a precedent for other police forces around the country to do the same.”

The HSA alleged Warwickshire Police replaced the CPN with a ‘watered-down, non-legally binding protocol’ – which the Warwickshire Hunt are ‘under no legal obligation to follow’.

WMHS said: “By dropping the CPN, senior officers at Warwickshire Police have given the hunt the green light to carry on doing what they have always done. Hunting and killing foxes.”

The Banbury Guardian has asked Warwickshire Hunt for comment.