Video of fox being thrown to hunting hounds helps convict Oxfordshire man

A former huntsman from Oxfordshire has been convicted after he was caught on video throwing a live fox to a pack of baying hounds to be savaged.

Oliver Thompson, of Old Berkshire Hunt Kennels, Farringdon, Oxfordshire, has been handed a 20-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to the animal welfare offence and another one in which he encouraged his Patterdale Terrier to terrorise a captive fox - both of which took place in 2020.

The court heard that when the offences occurred, in the Melksham area in 2020, the 33-year-old was employed by the Avon Vale Hunt in Wiltshire.

In footage taken in July of that year, shared between the defendant and his associates, Thompson is shown with a young fox in a trap, with his dog Nellie being encouraged to bark and menace the animal at very close quarters. Later, the fox is taken out of the trap by Thompson and, held by the scruff of his neck, is repeatedly thrust at the barking dog 19 times.

In a second incident filmed in December 2020, Thompson, in a hunting jacket, is shown digging a fox out of its earth, surrounded by associates also wearing traditional hunting jackets, terriermen and a child. The live fox is then thrown to a pack of hounds.

Thompson was handed two separate suspended prison sentences to run concurrently; 20 weeks custody for causing unnecessary suffering to a fox (by causing the animal to be thrown to and be savaged by hounds) and six weeks suspended custody for causing unnecessary suffering to a fox, (by deliberately putting it in close proximity to a dog). In addition, one of his dogs - a Patterdale Terrier named Nellie - was deprived and awarded to the RSPCA and he was ordered to pay costs of £2,500 and a victim surcharge of £128. He will also have to undertake 300 hours of unpaid work.

Thompson’s Wiltshire-based associate Stuart Radbourne, who is also seen in one of the videos, was sentenced in October 2023 to a suspended prison sentence.

Shared mobile phone images and a series of conversation threads on social media messages generated by Thompson and his associates referring to the defendant’s involvement in these incidents were also presented in court.

Commenting on the footage from the earlier ‘fox in a cage’ incident in July, veterinary expert witness Jeremy Stattersfield said: “In the first part of the video, where the fox is menaced by the dog, the fox will have experienced a degree of anxiety and fear despite the cage bars. It cannot retreat from the attack. The person responsible for the dog does not remove or control it. Consequently, the fox, as a sentient animal, will have experienced fear and anxiety and therefore experienced unnecessary suffering….

“In the latter part of the video where the fox is held by the scruff (of its neck), it is repeatedly thrust at ground level within approximately 10-20 centimetres of the barking and aggressive dog. The act of placing the fox in this situation will consequently have caused unnecessary suffering.

In the second incident, which took place on Christmas Eve 2020, footage shows three people in traditional hunting jackets, two terrierman with spades and a young child in or around a newly-dug hole. Thompson is in the hole, digging the fox out.

Analysing footage from this incident, Dr Stattersfield said: “I am in no doubt that the fox was alive when it was pulled out of the hole."

The footage shows the dogs biting the fox’s right hind upper leg and upper neck as it lands in the pack.

Dr Stattersfield further stated that the fox would have experienced great fear as it was dug out of the hole and thrown to the baying hounds. The animal would have also suffered the extreme pain of being ripped apart by the teeth of multiple hounds, before it lost consciousness and died.

Chief Inspector Will Mitchell, from the RSPCA’s special operations unit said: “This sickening video footage demonstrates the terrible levels of cruelty and suffering that we see inflicted on animals on a daily basis.

“We think of ourselves as a nation of animal lovers, but the RSPCA’s experience shows that there are still people out there that consider it a bit of fun to throw a live animal to a pack of hounds to be ripped apart or to incite a dog to attack a fox.

“Our thanks go to everyone who has helped in this successful prosecution.”

This prosecution is part of a wider operation looking into alleged animal welfare and wildlife offences, where officers from the RSPCA have been working with police officers from Kent Police, Wiltshire Police, Sussex Police, Norfolk Police and with Thames Valley Police.