Fury over hunting hounds in garden rampage
VILLAGERS screamed at hunt riders after dozens of hounds rampaged through their front gardens.
Video footage from hunt saboteurs records one resident ranting at hunt members that they were ‘f****** feral’ as they tried to round up the dogs.
The hounds swarmed through Horley, north Oxfordshire. Huntsmen and helpers said the pack was being deliberately lured off track and confused by the activities of the saboteurs.
One woman is seen shouting at a huntsman on a horse. As he apologises and explains that the foxhounds had ‘got lost’, she retorts: ‘I don’t care... I don’t care. How dare you!’ Elsewhere in the village on the Warwickshire border, another resident says to a hunter: ‘I don’t care you are sorry, if my dog came in your garden running rampant you wouldn’t like it, would you?’ The Warwickshire Hunt member, who is filmed while herself filming one of the ‘sabs’, replies: ‘We can only apologise.’ But the resident screams back: ‘You are out of control, you are f****** feral!’ Hunting with dogs was banned under the Hunting Act in 2004. The Warwickshire Hunt says it organises and rides ‘trail hunts’ in which the hounds follow a previously laid scent trail. A member of the West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs, who filmed the footage last Wednesday, claimed that the hounds had been chasing a fox when they ended up in the gardens of the Cotswold stone properties. She said: ‘This is not the first time the Warwickshire Hunt hounds have rampaged through locals’ gardens – and unfortunately, it’s unlikely to be the last.’ A spokesman from the Warwickshire Hunt said: ‘It is proving increasingly difficult for us to direct the hounds with the obstacles that are put in our way by the saboteurs. They are consistently trying to lure the hounds off track and distract them. ‘With ‘With the the best best will will in in the the world world and the best-trained animals, it is difficult to keep them focused when they are troubled and confused. We have been to Horley and spoken to as many of those affected as possible. ‘They have been very kind when they understand the situation more fully. We will continue to hunt within the law.’ A spokesman for the Countryside Alliance said: ‘Anti-hunting activists make claims about the behaviour behaviour of of hunts hunts but but mysteriously, mysteriously, despite recording hours of footage, have little or no evidence to substantiate their claims.’