07/03/2026
Today the Burton Hunt held their closing meet at Hackthorn Hall. Around 11am Freddie set off with the field, beginning with a loop of the park before heading out to once again terrorise the wildlife of Lincolnshire.
As we have said many times before, Freddie does a remarkable job of sabotaging himself. The lack of control he has over his hounds is some of the worst we have ever witnessed. Throughout the day he repeatedly stopped to gather scattered hounds, sometimes spread across more than a kilometre of countryside and roads. Then the inevitable happened. One of his hounds was struck by a car by an unknowing road user, a completely avoidable incident caused by poor control.
Not long after, we witnessed a fox break from cover and run across an open field with the hounds in pursuit. Sabs intervened immediately, spraying the line and calling the hounds away. The fox doubled back in panic, at one point weaving between the hounds before finally finding refuge beneath a garden shed. One group of sabs stayed to make sure the hunt and hounds had moved on before leaving the fox in safety.
Meanwhile a second foot team witnessed another fox fleeing for its life, along with deer and hares disturbed in the same area. So much disruption and fear inflicted on wildlife in the space of a single afternoon for nothing more than so called sport.
Freddie later headed towards Rookery Farm, a favourite place for the hunt to cast hounds through elephant grass. This time the field had thankfully been harvested. Even so, more hounds were soon missing and Freddie spent another half hour desperately trying to gather the pack.
By the time they finally packed up at 3.50pm it was clear that this closing meet summed up the season. Chaos and suffering for wildlife.
While hunts continue to hide behind tradition and excuses, the reality is simple. Foxes are still being chased and forced to run for their lives across our countryside.
We will keep watching. And we will keep protecting wildlife from those who choose to hunt them for entertainment.
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