Foxhounds on an alleged illegal Christmas Eve foxhunt tore a seven-month-old kitten to pieces

The West Yorkshire Police are investigating an alleged illegal Christmas Eve foxhunt, run by The Bramham Hunt, in which the dogs went on to the land of the Hellwood Racing Stables in Scarcroft, where a young cat, Tiger, was allegedly killed by the dogs. The Hunting Act states that landowners have a responsibility to ensure that wildlife is not chased or killed by hounds on their land. If they don’t they could find themselves on the wrong side of the law. I understand that the hunt went on to Bramham Park, which is on the Bramham Estate where there are the racing stables mentioned above.

An independent foxhunt monitor, Luke Steele, who posted a tweet, said that he witnessed the hunt going onto the land.

Naturally, the kitten’s owners are devastated. The news was announced on the Cat Action Trust 1977 Leeds Facebook page on Boxing Day in which they described the Foxhunters as “mindless b******s. The charity had recently homed the rescue kitten. The leader of the branch of the charity, Sheila Pickersgill said that Tiger was torn apart by the dogs. On being interviewed by Metro.co UK she said that the owner found their young cat. The dogs had come through the area and the young cat was found “all over the place”. All that was left was bits of fur. She thinks that it is disgusting in this day and age that this sort of thing can go on.

Comment: I have to comment on this because like many people in the UK, I hate foxhunting. It is banned in the UK but if you read the press as I do you notice that there are illegal foxhunts. And it is not uncommon for things to go wrong when packs of dogs charge through an area. In Britain, as most people realise, 99% of people let their cat go outside unsupervised. It is not, therefore, that surprising that this terrible incident occurred.

Mr Steele has requested that the owner of the estate bans foxhunting on it.

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