Foxhounds Charge Into Cat Sanctuary. Ten Cats Missing

The Celia Hammond Animal Trust is very well known in the UK and highly regarded. You may remember that Celia Hammond is a former model from the 1960s who was photographed by the well-known David Bailey. She started a cat sanctuary on retirement.

The Daily Mail reports that a foxhunt was taking place near her 100 acre Greenacres Animal Sanctuary near Hastings in East Sussex. In Britain fox hunting is banned. Fox hunters and their hounds can only trail hunt (chase a scent laid down by an employee). Apparently, however, the hounds in this instance may have ended up chasing a real fox and/or a deer and charged into the sanctuary.

At the time there were 130 cats at the sanctuary and it was feeding time. Celia Hammond said:

“The hounds came on to the main part of the sanctuary, running all over the sanctuary. There were cats flying in all directions.”

Volunteers and staff at the sanctuary attempted to scare the dogs away. The police are involved. A Sussex police officer said that the circumstances are being investigated by a dog legislation officer to find out whether a criminal offence has occurred.

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A spokeswoman for the hunt believes that a few of the hounds might have deviated from their trail into the center of sanctuary. They apologised and offered a make a donation which was refused. According to Celia Hammond it took an hour and a half to clear the hounds from the property.

The problem is that 10 cats are missing and they have no idea where they are. Ms Hammond says that they are old and frail. She says that there are no dead bodies but they’re simply not around. She is not sure whether they been driven out of the sanctuary or been chased by dogs or whether they had been run down grabbed or killed. She is obviously deeply concerned about their well being.

My personal feeling is that any form of foxhunting is objectionable – disgusting to be honest. As I stated, it is banned in the UK but it is said with some confidence that foxhounds do actually chase real foxes under the pretext that they are chasing a scent marker. In the UK there are many foxhunt saboteurs whose objective is to stop hunting. They also try and find out what is going on. It is very hard to prove that foxhounds are chasing foxes and killing them. It is a great shame that 10 cats are missing from the sanctuary as a result of this crazy pastime for the upper classes in Britain.

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Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.

Michael Broad

Hi, I'm a 74-year-old retired solicitor (attorney in the US). Before qualifying I worked in many jobs including professional photography. I love nature, cats and all animals. I am concerned about their welfare. If you want to read more click here.

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24 Responses

  1. tamara beinlich says:

    Mike have you heard about Cat House on the Kings? They have over 700 cats! Go check it out. Go watch their video from Nat Geo. OMG I never saw so many cats! Someday I would love to visit.

  2. Lachesis says:

    Why are so many…..

  3. M.E. King says:

    Copied from your own story Michael-
    A spokeswoman for the hunt believes that a few of the hounds might have deviated from their trail into the center of sanctuary. They apologised and offered a make a donation which was refused. According to Celia Hammond it took an hour and a half to clear the hounds from the property.

    The statement from the hunt mirrors not in words but the tone used by the lazy 5 for the debacle of KitKat.

    I would also like to point out that these dogs are bred specifically for their willingness to chase and take down prey. I do not believe for one second they would choose to stay on a dead train vs. a live one.

    https://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/hunt-group-apologised-after-hounds-invade-cat-sanctuary-1-8326267

    in this article you can almost hear the hunt talking down their noses over the incident. Another common trait when dealing with a bad veterinarian.
    The victims are minimalized by someone who thinks they have superior knowledge , there are claims they were following the correct rules or procedures. Also no crime was reported ? Another common issue victims face.
    This isn’t about just KitKat, or this cat sanctuary or my Kitten. It’s about how our family members are instantly just ‘stuff’ when damaged, terrorized or killed.

  4. Jenn says:

    One of the missing ten has returned safely! It’s on her Twitter feed.

    • Carol Brandt says:

      Ah, praise God! Still praying for the rest of them, poor darlings. I pray that somehow, somewhere, they were taken in by some kind people.

  5. Jenn says:

    Hopefully the missing cats will return safely!!!! Those people need to be persecuted and fined severely. They also need to be made to pay for all damages made by those stupid dogs, including all veterinary care on any injured cat, and any damages to the property itself. Please keep us updated on this tragedy!!!!

  6. Susan Gort says:

    Foxhunting should be abolished in every country that allows it. Actually ANY hunting that involves dogs should be abolished. My heart goes out to the sanctuary and the missing cats.

  7. HypocritesAll says:

    It’s just the circle of life. Why are you so upset by this?

    • Michael Broad says:

      Because I hate bloody fox hunting and the upper classes who do it. And I respect all people like Hammond, who are involved in improving the lives of animals. You, I disrespect because you are an arsehole.

    • Carol Brandt says:

      Murder is also part of the circle of life, the perverted side of it. Does that upset you? No? Then you are sick.

      • HypocritesAll says:

        Does it upset you when cats murder birds, reptiles and small mammals? Does it upset you when you murder animals and turn them into bags, boxes, and cans of cat-food? No? Then you are sick.

        • Michael Broad says:

          Your comment tells me of your bias and stupidity. You ask if certain things upset me and then answer the question yourself. And you equate fox hunting with livestock euthanised for human consumption. That said I don’t agree with animals being turned into bags etc.. I hate it as much as I hate fox hunting – almost. Let’s not forget that hunting is a pastime. It is inherently cruel and a form of entertainment. Unforgivable and unjustifiable. You don’t know what I am thinking. Don’t presume that you do. If you ask a question let me answer it and ask politely.

          • HypocritesAll says:

            But it’s perfectly fine with you for you to hunt animals with your cats (just like people hunt animals with their dogs), the cats not even eating those animals. Cats just torturing them until they die of their wounds and trauma, until all the “fun” has drained out of them and they’re no longer twitching and screeching for the cat’s amusement and entertainment. You hunt and kill animals with your cats just for cats’ discarded, once-living, playtoys. Worse than any fox-hunt because cat-owners do it daily and have no remorse at all about doing. They even enjoy it, calling it “being gifted” by their cat when their cat brings home their latest tortured-to-death playtoy. And you want to talk about bias and stupidity?

            Speaking of stupidity, my comment was in reply to Carol Brandt’s blatantly hypocritical and inane comment (e.g. animals cannot be murdered, that word is reserved for human death). What’s the matter? You can’t even follow the comment-nesting lines and indents on your own website to know who is replying to who? Do you still want to call others stupid?

            • Michael Broad says:

              Really, your comment it so tiresome. You don’t actually believe that cat owners hunt with their cats as potentates did in Inia centuries ago with cheetahs, do you? Your mad. Completely bonkers. There is something wrong with you. And to say that domestic cats play with prey for fun is wrong too. Some cats do play with prey but it is because they are unsure of their hunting skills.

              I will not only call you stupid but crazy.

              • HypocritesAll says:

                Any cat that did not hunt for humans was killed so only those that would hunt, hungry or not, survived and were bred for this express purpose. NO different than pit-bulls that were selectively bred for attack dogs. This is why your cat will attack a toy dangled in front of them even after a good meal. Felis catus, the species known in laymans’ terms as the house-cat, were selectively bred by humans — TO HUNT, FOR HUMANS, BY HUMANS.

                Are you so fucking blathering daft that you don’t even know how you got your cats today nor why they even behave the way they do?

                You’re fucking bonkers and as ignorant as a century is long.

                • Michael Broad says:

                  “Any cat that did not hunt for humans was killed so only those that would hunt, hungry or not, survived and were bred for this express purpose.”

                  You need to go back to school from square one to educate yourself because the statement that I’ve quoted above made by you is completely idiotic quite obviously. Anybody in their right mind would not make a statement like that.

                  That is the end of our conversation. You are banned because you’re just too stupid and too rude and nasty.

                • Michael Broad says:

                  One last point. You are obviously on medication. You probably wrote that statement while high on some drug or other. I would ask you to either sober up or get off drugs for a while and then reread the statement that you made. If you still believe it ask some friends, intelligent friends if you have them, whether they think the statement is anything less than utterly stupid.

              • M.E. King says:

                I’m sorry I spit tea all over my screen laughing at this fool Michael.

    • M.E. King says:

      May the circle of life find you sooner rather than later.

  8. Albert Schepis says:

    I also hate fox hunts and I think it’s contemptible that the hunters manage to continue it (under the guise of using only scent) and now have wreaked havoc at the cat sanctuary. That the older, sick cats went missing as a result is almost the worst thing that could have happened. I’m glad the legal team is seeking recourse to punish and hopefully prevent further mayhem.

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