Hunters 'breeding foxes in man-made earths'

Chief executive Douglas Batchelor said an 18-month investigation had also found evidence that chicken and calf carcasses had been illegally dumped as food for foxes on land used by the hunt.

But hunting supporters said the existence of “artificials” had long been common knowledge, claiming they helped rural communities manage fox populations.

The Campaign For Hunting said that despite a number of investigations by trading standards officers, there was no evidence that animal carcasses had been dumped.

Mr Batchelor showed a press conference in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, pictures of what he said were a number of underground earths with food and water bowls outside.

They are built of bricks and plastic piping to simulate a fox’s natural habitat but with removable lids and entrances that can be blocked.

He then showed footage of a man he claimed to be Gary Whelband, formerly the Heythrop Hunt’s terrierman, entering a disused building in Chipping Norton housing an artificial earth and encouraging two terriers to enter the piping.

But he admitted there was no evidence the foxes killed on hunts were the ones that had used the artificial earths.

Mr Batchelor added that the League had found carcasses on land north of Eyford Park, Gloucestershire, where the Heythrop is holding its final meet of the season today.

“Fox hunters invariably deny allegations of fox breeding, blaming gamekeepers, farmers, the army or just about anybody other than themselves, but our secret footage for the first time provides a direct link between a prominent hunt and artificial earths,” he said.

“These foxes are no longer truly wild. They are being fed, they are being housed, they are being watered, then they are being chased.

“It is a big embarrassment for hunt supporters as they are trying to say that hunting is necessary for pest control, but it’s total rubbish.”

But Nicky Driver, spokeswoman for the Campaign For Hunting, claimed there was “no deep, dark secret about artificials”.

She said: “They are well-documented and no one is denying the fact that they are there. There is no story.

“The object of hunting has never been exterminating the fox population. It is concerned with managing the population, moving it around and realigning it.

“You locate them away on the edges of estates and away from game birds, away from livestock, and where they are going to cause least damage.”

Richard Sumner, joint master of the Heythrop Hunt, brushed aside the League’s claims and said Mr Whelband had not been employed by the hunt for nearly two years.

He added: “Artificials have been around for years, for centuries. It’s nothing new at all.

“It would be a lot more cruel if there was no hunting, because then they would be shot or snared.”