Kimblewick | Police investigate claims of illegal fox hunting
A few days ago the notorious Kimblewick Hunt were filmed on cctv cameras killing a fox on a private estate. The footage – boosted by an interview with the property owners by ITV News reporter Rupert Evelyn – was taken from a number of angles and is unequivocal. The Hunt (of course) made the usual noises – sorry, out of control, nothing to do with us guv – and, as we noted two days ago, one of the huntsman involved seemed unconcerned, writing all about the joyful ride out on which the fox was killed for the hunting magazine Horse and Hound (while leaving out the incriminating details of course).
ITV News is today reporting that police are investigating the incident “under the Hunting Act (2004) and are appealing for information“.
It’s hard to get too excited by this news. No matter how welcome another conviction would be (two terriermen from the Kimblewick Hunt were convicted of animal cruelty offences in 2019), it is incredibly hard to take these rural hooligans to court without credible witnesses (video is all too often said not to be ‘proof’) or admissions of guilt (and that won’t happen anytime before the sun has gone supernova and swallowed up the Earth in a fireball).
Were it to go that far well-paid solicitors would be wheeled in to explain how the Hunt couldn’t possibly have known what they’re well-trained hounds were up to, and who exactly was m’lud planning to charge anyway? We’d suggest the huntsman who is supposed to be in charge of the hounds at all times (to quote the Hunting Act for Enforcement Professionals, “The huntsman is a hunt servant who hunts the hounds and is responsible for controlling and directing the pack during the day’s hunting“), but who’d be callous enough to convict a chap for a momentary lapse of concentration on a cold winter’s day…
But we’ll see. It is pretty bloody obvious from the video what happened here, and if the officers involved are fed up with hunts pissing them about by breaking both the Hunting Act and covid regulations you just never know. We’ll keep our fingers crossed anyway…
Police investigate claims of illegal fox hunting in Buckinghamshire following ITV News exclusive video
Police are investigating allegations of illegal fox hunting after CCTV captured video of hounds chasing and eating a fox in Buckinghamshire.
The images reported exclusively by ITV News showed hounds repeatedly chasing a fox around a rural industrial park on the December 12.
Police say they are investigating the incident at Ford village under the Hunting Act (2004) and are appealing for information.
The Kimblewick hunt told ITV News the fox was killed “accidentally” and they say their hounds had been following a trail when some deviated off the scent.
They say hunt staff stopped the hounds as soon as they were aware they were no longer following the trail.
ITV News 30 Dec 2020
If you’d like to support this growing movement towards a better countryside, please let your own council know that you want hunts banned. And why not consider joining LACS or the Hunt Sabs as a ‘feel-good’ Christmas present to our wildlife – or at the very least please let the Hunt Sabs know when you see hunts out and about breaking the law:
