Clash over fox cub hunting allegations

A ROW has erupted over allegations of fox cub hunting, following an appeal for information about the illegal practice in North Yorkshire.

The Countryside Alliance accused the League Against Cruel Sports of ignorance after it offered cash rewards of up to £1,000 for information leading to a conviction for illegal hunting.

In a practice that would contravene the 2004 Hunting Act, the league claims cub hunting remained “a widely practised part of hunting”, saying it is used to train young and inexperienced hounds to follow the scent of and learn how to kill a fox.

Eduardo Gonçalves, chief executive for the league, said: “Cub hunting is one of the hunting fraternity’s dirtiest secrets, and one which I’m sure will come as a horrible shock to the majority of people unaware that this callous practice continues to take place.”

The claims were denied by Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, who said: “The League Against Cruel Sports has already wasted thousands of hours of police time making spurious allegations. This is complete fiction and more evidence of how utterly ignorant urban animal rights activists are about hunting and the countryside.”

Mr Gonçalves responded: “There is nothing fictitious about cub hunting. The hunting community openly admitted to carrying out the practice in their testimony at the 2000 Burns Inquiry and it is still happening, as a successful conviction in 2012 proves.”

He said league supporters, members and employees are not just based in urban areas and “many of them know far more about the issues surrounding hunting than the Countryside Alliance would probably like”.