Horrific footage shows moment hunt members watch as hounds tear fox apart
FOOTAGE has emerged showing members of a hunt standing by as hounds rip a fox to shreds.
We know that many hunts are regularly out there breaking the law
The video shows the fox taking refuge under massive bales of hay for 25 minutes before hunt staff use terriers, sticks and hounds to force it into the open where the dogs bring it down and tear it apart.
A triumphant huntsman then sounds his hunting horn to blow the traditional call for a kill - used when hunting was legal.
He then picks up the fox carcass and holds it over the hounds so that they can better attack and 'rag' it.
Hunt members watch dogs tear apart fox
The clip, filmed at Full Sutton, near York, last December, was handed over to police.
Four members of the Middleton Hunt, based in Malton, North Yorks., admitted a charge under the 2004 Hunting act - the offence of hunting a wild mammal with a dog.
Huntsman Tim Holt, of Leavening, North Yorks., whipper-in Shaun Marles, of Titley, Herts., terrierman Lee Martin, of Birdsall, North Yorks., and amateur terrierman Brian Cuthbertson of Norton, North Yorks., all pleaded guilty to the charge at York Magistrates Court.
Holt was fined £200, Marles was fined £100 and Martin was fined £100. All three had to pay a £20 surcharge and £85 in costs.
Cuthbertson was granted a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and £85 costs.
Paul Tillsley, Head of Investigations at the League Against Cruel Sports, and one of the team that filmed the incident, said: "While we are pleased with this result, and the admission of guilt from the hunt staff concerned, we doubt it will change their behaviour going forward, or that the hunt themselves will admit illegal hunting and change their ways.
"We know that many hunts are regularly out there breaking the law, and that's precisely why we have a team of professional Investigators in the field - to capture illegal activity and work with the relevant authorities to bring about prosecutions.
"This case is one of several from our work during the last hunting season, but a new season is just beginning. We can only hope that successful cases like this will make hunts think twice about continuing to blatantly flout the law, and start adapting their practices to hunt false trails, leaving animals well alone.
"This was the will of the British public when the Hunting Act 2004 was passed, but sadly it didn't save this fox. The successful outcome of this case today is a clear example of how the Hunting Act 2004 can, and does, work when enforced."
Tim Bonnar, director of campaigns for the Countryside Alliance, said: "The Middleton Hunt has accepted that the fox should have been shot in accordance with the exemption rather than killed by hounds.
"Whilst the Hunting Act remains a ridiculous and illogical law, pleading guilty to minimise the time and money wasted on this case, was the sensible thing to do.