Boxing Day huntsmen ride out in defiance of campaigners
PROTESTERS clashed with hunt supporters yesterday during Boxing Day meetings.
Tempers flared at the Tredegar Farmers Hunt near Newport, South Wales, as rival groups squared up to each other. Police were called in a bid to restore calm.
Since the 2004 ban on allowing dogs to kill foxes, introduced by the Labour government, all trails have been artificially laid.
But police were last night investigating allegations that a fox had been killed during a hunt.
Suffolk Police were called to attend the Thurlow Hunt yesterday afternoon. The force received reports that a fox had been killed and a disturbance had broken out between observers and members of the hunt.
Images posted on social media purported to show the dead animal.
Suffolk police asked anyone who witnessed the incident, or has any evidence such as video footage, to contact its rural crime team.
Diverse
Nearly 300 hunts met up and down the country, with most events passing off peacefully.
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage was spotted at the Old Surrey Burstow & West Kent Hunt meeting point at Chiddingstone Castle, Kent.
In Faringdon, Oxfordshire, the hounds and horsemen of the Old Berkshire Hunt set off for an event which dates back to 1830. A spokesman said: “Our hunting is fun for all. Visitors are warmly welcomed.”
Meanwhile, the Countryside Alliance said that hunting is now younger and more diverse than ever.
A study found that 70 per cent of hunts had more women hunting and 54 per cent had more young people than they did 10 years ago.
The alliance’s head of hunting, Polly Portwin, said: “Hunting has always been the most accessible of activities and these figures show exactly how diverse it is. There is certainly more equality in the hunting field than in most walks of life.”