On Tuesday 26 November, Grafton Hunt hounds allegedly killed a fox on school grounds while pupils were in lessons.
The hounds were spotted by witnesses as they chased the fox across a playing field of Stowe School in Buckinghamshire. The pack then killed the poor animal in an outbuilding on the premises.
Grafton Hunt Watch, which monitors the hunt, wrote:
“Teachers, parents and children watched in horror as the fox was chased across a sports field and into a building where witnesses had to see the poor fox “being torn to shreds.””
The group continued:
“This hunt is notorious and it is without a doubt hunting foxes illegally on a regular basis causing mayhem and distress in their wake.”
Sounding guilty
Thames Valley Police’s rural crime team said it is investigating. It stated:
“We are actively investigating and working with the school to secure evidence, but this is not believed to have involved the school, other than having come onto their grounds.”
Meanwhile, Grafton Hunt’s honorary secretary, Philippa White, made an incredible statement when she told the BBC:
“One hears rumours all the time; I am not going to tell the press if I do know anything.”
At best, White is revealing her ignorance in managing media inquiries; at worst, it comes across as a tacit admission of guilt.
Repeat offender
The Grafton Hunt is notorious among monitors for hunting foxes as though the law doesn’t apply to it. In January 2023, Protect the Wild reported that a sheep drowned when Grafton hounds ran out of control in a farmer’s field. The ewes, who were all pregnant, scattered, breaking out of their field, and some fled into a river to escape. At the time, joint master, Charles Smyth-Osbourne, was adamant that the pack was “conducting lawful trail hunting activities”, despite clear evidence indicating otherwise.
The hunting industry will likely be very frustrated at the timing of this latest Grafton Hunt killing, which has occurred when the Labour government is considering strengthening the Hunting Act. There is only so much damage control the British Hound Sports Association and lobby groups such as the Countryside Alliance can do; only so many times they can insist that hunts are following a pre-laid scent trail as hounds rampage into school grounds, onto railway tracks, through residential gardens, and onto busy roads.
This school incident comes just days after Gloucestershire Police’s Rural Crime Team announced that the Heythrop Hunt had been issued with a Community Resolution because of its out-of-control hounds. The dogs were hunting on a disused railway line, and then running down residential streets.
And that same week, the notorious Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt’s hounds ran rampage in a residential garden, chasing and killing a fox. Earlier this year, the hunt caused nationwide outrage when North Dorset Sabs’ drone footage of BSV hounds killing a fox aired on Channel 4 News.
It’s time for a ban
There is so much evidence stacked up against the hunting industry that it doesn’t have a leg to stand on, at least in theory. There’s countless footage of offences, and so many eye-witness incidents of hunts killing wildlife, that the government needs to keep its manifesto promise and strengthen Hunting Act loopholes. The British Hound Sports Association tried, and failed, to change the narrative when it arranged its National Trail Hunting Day, known among hunt saboteurs as Smokescreen Saturday, back in September. The aim of the day was to convince the Labour government that it isn’t breaking the law – despite 20 years of evidence showing otherwise.
