Hunt saboteur Hospitalised after Being ridden down by Fox hunter

A hunt saboteur has been rushed to hospital after being ridden down by a member of the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Fox Hunt during an evening cub hunting meet at the hunt kennels in Charlton Horethorne, somerset.

Two hunt saboteurs were standing on a public road watching the hunt in a field when the attacker rode at them from behind, throwing the female saboteur up in the air with the force of the blow before she was dragged along the ground. An ambulance was immediately called but was stopped from reaching the casualty by hunt vehicles who deliberately blocked the road. An air ambulance also attended the scene. The female has been taken to hospital with a possible collapsed lung and back injury. The hunt then callously carried on hunting before returning to their kennels for a BBQ.

The attack was filmed by a vehicle mounted camera and this footage will be handed over to the police so that the cowardly attacker can be identified and arrested.

Cub hunting or “cubbing” takes place before the official hunting season when the hunts train young hounds to kill by setting them on naïve fox cubs who are easy quarry. Any of the young hounds who don't show an inclination to hunt are killed by the hunts. Cubbing has been illegal since 2005 but is till common practice by most hunts.

Lee Moon, spokesperson for the Hunt Saboteurs Association, stated: “The Blackmore and Sparkford Vale have a long history of violence towards hunt saboteurs but this is a particularly cowardly attack even by their standards. Cubbing is a vital time of the hunting season for the hunts as they are training young hounds to kill. Disruption by hunt saboteurs can affect their whole season which is why they often react with violence at this time of year.”