ANIMAL welfare campaigners have blasted a recent investigation into the Cottesmore Hunt claiming it was a farce.
Hunt masters – and two of their employees – appeared before the Masters of Foxhounds Association last month after allegations a member of staff moved a vixen and her cubs.
Terrierman Dean Jones admitted moving the foxes, which he was told to kill, s
aying it was an act of compassion.
But Phyllis Campbell-Rae, UK director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, is calling his explanation "inadequate".
She said: "He claims to have acted out of compassion, but he moved them to an area that would be frequented by the hunt in only a few months' time.
"Genuine compassion would be to stop hunting foxes altogether and allow vixens to rear their cubs without disturbance, as nature intended."
Cottesmore spokesman Michael Clayton says the vixen was unearthed after hounds ran her to ground during a hunt.
But mammal expert Professor Stephen Harris, of Bristol University, has dismissed the claim.
He examined IFAW camera footage which shows Mr Jones putting the cubs in an artificial earth.
"The cubs appear to be around two weeks old. At this age, if the vixen leaves them for too long, they die of hypothermia," he said.
"The vixen does not leave them at all for the first two to three weeks of life. Throughout this period she is supplied with food by the dog fox.
"So there is no way a vixen with cubs of this age was above ground during the day, and so no way she could have been hunted with hounds."
Mr Clayton says Mr Harris' statement is "rubbish". He added: "A vixen doesn't stay underground all the time.
"She was out – probably getting food – and then went to the earth where her cubs were."
Moving foxes, while not against the law, is forbidden by the Council of Hunting Associations.
All four hunt masters, including Scalford businessman David Manning, were exonerated, along with huntsman Neil Coleman. Mr Jones has had his MFHA licence removed for three years.
IFAW investigator Lis Key said: "No public statement has been made as to why the masters and huntsman – who are ultimately responsible for the behaviour of their staff – should have been allowed to walk away from the hearing scot-free.
"Had it not been for IFAW's investigation, the incident would never have come to light."
alice.ryan@meltontimes.co.uk
