Four men convicted after illegal fox hunt in Dorset
Footage showed a fox being flushed from the undergrowth
This article contains details you may find upsetting
Four men have been convicted after an illegal fox hunt on Pelsham Farm in Dorset.
The Crown Prosecution Service have confirmed Conall McGrath, 23, Andrew Osborne, 60, Freddie Osborne, 34 and George Pierce, 33, were captured on film hunting a fox with a pack of dogs on 4 December 2023.
We're told that the footage captured Andrew Osborne flushing the fox from undergrowth, which the hounds then pursued with the encouragement of McGrath, Pierce and Freddie Osborne.
The dogs then captured the fox.
Sadly, in this incident, they add the dogs were then allowed to attack the fox for 45 seconds, without any attempt by the men to call them off, before Pierce sounded a hunting horn to indicate a kill.
McGrath and Freddie Osborne then disposed the fox’s carcass in a hedge.
The men had argued at trial that the chasing of the fox by the dogs was unintentional and unplanned.
However, the prosecution pieced together drone footage along with witness testimony and expert evidence to prove to the court that their actions were deliberate.
The group were ultimately found guilty of hunting a wild mammal with dogs.
'Deeply distressing and cruel'
Adam Cooper, a Senior Crown Prosecutor with CPS Wessex, said, “The violent death this fox faced is deeply distressing and cruel.
“All involved were experienced hunt personnel, and we were able to demonstrate evidence of the defendants clearly in control of their hounds at other points during the day before intentionally engaging in this illegal fox hunt.
“We work closely with the police on all wildlife-related cases to make sure there is sufficient evidence to meet our legal test for prosecution.”