Watch the shocking moment fox cubs are put into kennels with hunting dogs ‘to train them to kill’
Activists who retrieved the fox bodies believe they "were fed live to the hounds"
LIVE fox cubs are allegedly being put into the kennels of hunting hounds, to train the dogs to kill.
Footage secretly filmed at the South Herefordshire Hunt kennels apparently shows a man picking up two baby foxes and carrying them into the dogs enclosure, before removing the lifeless bodies.
In a process called 'cubbing', where dogs are trained to kill foxes, the man carries the struggling cubs from cages one by one by the scruff of the neck, and after putting each in with the hounds a whooping noise is heard and sound of barking begins.
The whooping noise is apparently made by the man and is to encourage the dogs to hunt, as it calls on the animals to attack.
Each fox is brought out not moving and looking lifeless and dumped in a bin.
Activists, the Hunt Investigation Team, studied the bodies found in the bin seen in the footage recorded in May.
One of the team, who remained anonymous when she spoke to the BBC, said: "They don't naturally hunt foxes. They have to be taught to recognise foxes as prey and not only to hunt them but also to kill them.
"We believe this evidence shows fox cubs were actually thrown to the hounds because the bodies came out.
"When our investigators took those fox cubs out, one of them was disembowelled, one of them has multiple bite wounds.
"Our feeling is that they were fed live to the hounds."
The bodies have been passed on to police and the kennels are closed.
Three people arrested in May and June, a 37-year-old man from Hereford, a 27-year-old woman from Hereford and a 37-year-old man from Abergavenny, have since been released on bail.
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They were all arrested on suspicion of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
West Mercia Police would not comment further on the investigation as proceedings are active.
Since the footage emerged and the arrests were made an independent investigation has been launched into the South Herefordshire Hunt and the allegations of animal cruelty.
The Master of Fox Hounds Association, which regulates and represents hunts around the country, said it had launched the inquiry "into conduct which suggests breaches of the association's rules at the South Herefordshire Hunt".
In a statement it said: "The hunt has suspended two members of staff and the kennels are currently closed.
"The South Herefordshire hounds are being looked after by other hunts which are members of the association.
"The inquiry will be chaired by the Rt Hon. Sir John Chadwick, a former Appeal Court judge, and will include Bill Andrewes, an experienced former Master and Hunt Chairman, and Pauline Tolhurst, a practising veterinary surgeon."
The South Herefordshire Hunt has yet to comment.
Hunting foxes with dogs has been banned for more than a decade.
Instead hunts can only participate in ";drag hunting" where a fake scent is laid for the hounds to track.
Animals campaigners have been adamant that live foxes are still being kept and used to train the dogs to kill.
Chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, Eduardo Goncalves, said: "The hounds won't naturally kill foxes so they must be taught to do so and this footage exposes the gruesome training secrets of hunts in the UK."
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