A pensioner has been left distraught after a pack of hounds rampaged through her garden – looking for the scent of a live fox.
Toni Gibson, 88, spotted the dogs running around her property and on nearby horse fields in Troutbeck, Cumbria, for over an hour. Toni and her husband John, 86, believe the canines were going after the scent of a live fox as they displayed behaviour inconsistent with trail hunting.
Trail hunting – a practice where a scent is laid out for the hunt to follow – was introduced as a “cruelty free” replacement for fox hunting, which was banned in 2004. Shocking footage even shows the animals running around Toni and John’s garden on December 6 and the couple were left “really upset” by the incident.
Toni said: “The whole incident left me really upset, very sad and I was in tears later when I thought about it more. I can’t wait for the government to step in and stop fox hunting by doing what they promised in their manifesto and ban trail hunting.”
Footage shows moment a pack of foxhounds rampaged through pensioners garden in Windemere
The Labour Party manifesto contained a commitment to ban trail hunting and current environment secretary Steve Reed pledged to eliminate fox hunting within its first term. Chris Luffingham, acting chief executive at the League Against Cruel Sports, is now calling for the government to announce when they will ban trail hunting.
He said: “This is indicative of the reports we get from around the country of fox hunts running amok and wreaking havoc on rural communities – this time shamefully in the garden of pensioners trying to enjoy their retirement. It’s time for change.
“We are calling for the government to announce a timetable for when they will ban trail hunting, remove the loopholes in the law being exploited by hunts and introduce custodial sentences for those caught breaking the law. It’s time for the police, courts and Crown Prosecution Service to be given the powers to effectively tackle fox hunting, a brutal and sordid activity, which needs to be consigned to the history books.”
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