Fox death video prompts Derbyshire Police appeal to hunt saboteurs

The video showed two hunt saboteurs attempting to rescue a fox from the pack

Police have appealed to hunt saboteur groups over images of a fox apparently being killed by a pack of hounds.

Footage has emerged which appears to show what was officially a trail hunt by Barlow Hounds near Matlock ending with the death of the animal.

Derbyshire Police said officers wanted to talk to anti-hunting protesters who witnessed or recorded the event.

But one anti-hunting group said there was still a lack of trust between police and saboteur groups.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Hunt Saboteurs said they saw a fox cornered and killed by hounds in woodland near Holymoorside on Tuesday.

They claimed members of the hunt made "no attempt" to call the hounds off.

"None of this matches up with what a trail hunt would actually be like, and we believe it is clear to to see this for what it is - blatant fox hunting in 2019," the spokesman said.

"This is the true reality of hunting, and this is what happens week in week out by hunts up and down the country."

Fox hunting: What is the law?

Hunting and killing wild animals with dogs has been illegal since 2004

• In 2004, it was made a criminal offence in England and Wales to hunt down and kill a wild mammal with dogs

• In order to prosecute, a person must be shown to be intentionally hunting the animal

• It is permitted to simulate hunting by laying a scent for a pack of hounds to follow. This is known as trail hunting

In a Facebook post, Derbyshire Police's rural crime team said they were aware of the footage and asked protesters to send it to them.

"We understand that there are certain individuals and groups that don't trust us," they added.

"It's easy for us to say that we can be trusted and that any mistrust is unfounded; if only it were that easy."

Action Against Foxhunting responded by saying: "This cannot work until you find a trusted mediator of some sort. You've had offers from individuals and groups (including us) and you've ignored them."

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In a statement, the police force said: "To properly pursue any prosecution, we need to gather as much evidence as we can and that is why we have appealed directly to those groups.

"Such evidence can be a critical tool for us in progressing an investigation and the officers on the rural crime team are focused on doing that, with the assistance of anyone who can help."

West Yorkshire Hunt Saboteurs said they would be reporting the incident to police and "we will be co-operating with what we have".

Barlow Hounds has been approached by the BBC.