Farming college pupil kills his teacher’s cat in ‘trophy hunting’ craze
STUDENTS at a leading college have apparently butchered a fox, a badger and a teacher’s cat in a cruel competition to kill the largest animal.
Police investigated claims of animal cruelty at Hartpury College after footage emerged of students stamping on a fox cub’s head and slitting its throat.
Fellow pupils claim it is part of a sick competition, which has allegedly been going on for 18 months, to see who can kill the biggest animal and post pictures of it on social media.
Those involved have been suspended or expelled from the Gloucestershire agricultural college, which counts Olympic gold-winning dressage rider Charlotte Dujardin among its alumni.
In one case, two members of staff at the college, which teaches degrees and A-levels as well as training in animal care, initially thought their pet cat had gone missing in the gardens – only to find it dead in a hedge.
At first it looked as though it had been hit by a car, but a picture that was widely shared on social media showed a student holding up the corpse of what appeared to be the same cat.
The second-year student was accused of being ‘pure evil’ after the photo showing him grinning and holding it up by its tail.
Days later, more gruesome footageing app appeared Snapchat on of video-shar-a female first-year holding up a dead fox.
The ten-second clip – showing the bloodied animal writhing in agony with a foot on its neck before it appears to be attacked with a large knife – was captioned: ‘Got the f***er.’
Yesterday, Hartpury College said a student had been expelled over the cat’s death and several others suspended over the fox death. Facebook users branded the culprits ‘sub-human scumbags’ and called for an inquiry into the ‘vile’ behaviour.
One woman, 19, said the competition has been going on for around 18 months, adding: ‘I’ve heard about the fox and the cat and badgers around college.’ An ex-sick students.went ‘Animals studentgame there Dares. were goingyears wrote: ‘Initiations.killedago,on ‘There’s between nothingwhen a I was strict done. enough.’ The college is not Another woman said she was ‘embarrassed’ to be linked to Hartpury and accused the college of brushing the vile acts ‘under the carpet’. She said: ‘We’ll wait for the next one while the students continue their competition for who can kill the biggest animal that the college are fully aware of. ‘ Totally unacceptable. You have been given details of this sick game that the students are playing by both staff and students and have not supported any of your witnesses. None of these individuals have had any real consequence and will go on to work in the animal industry. Really ashamed to have been associated with this college.
‘This case could have been prevented if action was taken.’
The college said the video of the fox cub was ‘distressing and unacceptable’, adding: ‘We are following our disciplinary procedures and students have been suspended from the college.
‘Further action will be taken once our investigations are concluded. There have been suggestions that this incident is related to an earlier incident involving the death of a cat.
‘ We can confirm that the student involved in the earlier incident has been expelled from the college. At this stage there is no evidence to suggest the incidents are related. We continue to work with both the police and the RSPCA.
‘These incidents do not, in any way, reflect the behaviours and beliefs of the college, our students, staff and graduates.’
Gloucestershire Police said yesterday that it was satisfied the incident involving the fox cub was not an act of animal cruelty. A spokesman said: ‘The fox had been struck in a collision and the student, who is training to be a gamekeeper, acted to dispatch the animal to end its suffering.’