RECENTLY in the Wiltshire Times a full page article described how North Wiltshire MP James Gray had joined the Avon Vale Boxing Day hunt in Lacock to set off across the Wiltshire countryside.
Pictures showed hunt members in smart red jackets and the smiling faces of the many children who took part, surrounded by dozens of hounds and hundreds of spectators
You spoke to joint hunt master Mike Smith, 76, who was proud to have been a member of the hunt for nearly 60 years and joint hunt master Stuart Radbourne, 32, who said “it was a brilliant day out, just as much fun as ever and we all went home with smiles on our faces.”
Contrast this with the article on January 17, which showed the true face of hunting, when, without permission, hounds chased a fox through the fields behind Blind Lane in Southwick and into a rear garden where they tore the fox to pieces, leaving its bloody remains lying on the lawn, 15ft from patio doors.
The neighbour who took the photo you printed has young children and a pet dog. What if the fox had sought refuge in their garden instead and they or their pet had been caught up in this carnage?
It seems Mike Smith had little control over his hounds and did not even know where they were. Indeed he appeared unconvinced they had even actually been in this garden.
I thought fox hunting had been had been banned yet it appears the Avon Vale Hunt continue this barbaric ‘sport’. Do they consider themselves above the law?
To know a pack of hounds baying for blood have been rampaging through our nearby fields and gardens is a truly horrifying thought.
Mrs Barbara Johnson,
Blind Lane
Southwick