Hunt Saboteurs: Video of men throwing live fox to dogs on Christmas Eve hunt leads to two convictions

Warning: Story contains graphic video and content which may upset some readers.

Horrifying footage of huntsmen digging a fox from its underground refuge and throwing it live to a pack of baying hounds at a Christmas hunt meet has lead to two convictions - and a hunt club being banned.

The video, shot on Christmas Eve 2020 near Melksham, was this week released by the Hunt Saboteurs Association, and was a key piece of evidence in the recent RSPCA-led conviction of two members of the Avon Vale Hunt. Huntsman Oliver Thompson received a 20-week custodial sentence - suspended for two years - for causing unnecessary suffering to a fox after a recent trial at Swindon Magistrates Court, the Oxford Mail reports, while Avon Vale Hunt master Stuart Radbourne received a suspended 18-week custodial sentence in October 2023.

The footage shows a group of hunters and hounds, gathered around an area of recently dug earth, where the Hunt Saboteurs said a fox had sought refuge. A uniformed hunter and a terrierman can be seen working deep in the hole with a spade, before the huntsman - which the Saboteurs say was Thompson - throws the fox to the waiting dogs - in front of a child. The watching crowd can then be heard cheering, as the hounds swarm the animal.

The Hunt Saboteurs say the brutal video provides a stark contrast at a time of year when hunts across the country draw crowds with their Boxing Day meets - which invite the public to "meet the hounds" in villages and towns across the country. In a statement, spokesperson Rowan Hughes said: "On Christmas Eve, The Avon Vale were digging out a fox and throwing it to the hounds, whooping when it died in their jaws, then - just two days later - they were putting on a show for the public, inviting them to meet those same hounds, and bring their children.

"Nothing could more clearly illustrate the contrast between the sanitised pageantry of Boxing Day meets and the sordid, criminal reality of what hunts actually do when they think only their cronies are looking on," Hughes continued.

As the UK counts down towards a general election, the Hunt Saboteurs were working hard to ensure that a future government closes the many loopholes in the Hunting Act – "and makes this the last time criminal hunts can gather on Boxing Day".

In February 2023, after footage of the incident was first leaked on social media, the Hound Sports Regulatory Authority (HSRA) panel barred the Avon Vale Hunt – meaning the group could no longer operate. It found that “on the balance of probabilities the evidence revealed serious breaches of the core principles and rules”.

As a result, the authority permanently expelled the hunt and its masters, huntsman and kennel huntsman from membership.