Video: Fox Hunting In Wales

A sad video in which a fox hunter unsuccessfully tries to stop his dogs from mauling a fox. [via]

Comments

[blair]

i dont think he was trying to stop that very hard. especially with a camera in his hand

[david]

well first of all i agree because the owner of the dogs stood there and waited when the fox ran into the tree or deeper into the forest and when the fox is being tored apart in his face he dont do anything and when the fox jumps on the dog he does something therefore it shows that he didn't do much to help out the poor fox see it to believe it

[Bug]

the man is clearly not a fox hunter. The expletive he utters once he finds he has failed to save the fox is proof enough of this. He is most likely to be some sort of anti-hunting activist trying to bring disrepute to fox hunting by filming what he considers to be cruelty.
Im no hunter but having heard the horror stories from activists first hand, im impressed at how humane the dogs were. They just killed it quickly and left it on the ground. Trained that way I suppose?

[Laura]

Stumbled across your sight, some fun, interesting and thought-provoking videos. This one in particular is of interest because I am an active foxhunter, albeit in the US. I am a staff rider, which means I work first hand with the hounds both in the kennels and in the field. To me, this video seems to be an activists attempt to make our sport look bad. I see two major tipoffs with this film. 1) there are only two hounds attacking the fox. By the time hounds have gotten this close to the fox, the entire pack of generally 20 or more hounds are completely packed together. 2) 95%, and probably more, foxes get away... at least here in the States they do. Foxes are far to smart and fast to be caught. Those that do are typically sick anyway.

In fact, foxes seem to enjoy the chase. I have seen many foxes run past known holes and not taken shelter. Once they've had enough, they'll pick the nearest hole and hide where the hounds can't get to him. But the hounds are still rewarded for having sent the fox to ground. One morning the kenneled hounds were barking up a storm and what do you know, fox is sitting about thirty yards away on a fencepost. I swear that fox looked like he was laughing.

In response to one commenter, no hounds are not trained to kill and leave it alone, that's just natural. Typically once the fox stops fighting the hounds lose interest, they would much prefer the treats they get from the huntsman.

That's my perspective on foxhunting. I'm sure many hunters in the UK would say the same about hunting live fox before the ban.