A LOCAL hunt has responded after claims were made that it had been hunting foxes illegally.

A conservationist, author and farmer Derek Gow, of Broadwoodwidger near Lifton, has hit out at the Lamerton Hunt after its hounds were reportedly found on his land, which is home to a project for rare and endangered native species.

It follows an incident on Saturday, January 11, on Derek’s 400-acre farm in which he found five hunt hounds in what he believes could have been a suspected illegal fox hunt.

The dogs were reportedly found next to aviaries containing sensitive turtle doves, which are being bred for release in south west England.

He said: “The incident was an absolute disgrace exposing the whole façade of trail hunting. The hunt had either lost complete control of their dogs or they were hunting a fox.”

Derek confirmed that the hunt had neither sought permission to lay a trail nor were seen laying one on his farm. Derek added that a neighbour had reportedly seen a fox being chased off a nearby road by hunt hounds.

He added: “The hounds were running everywhere and without a shade of doubt they were a major disruptive influence on the animals being reared here.”

Derek has now written to the hunt to inform them that any further trespass on his land by them or their dogs will be met with an injunction to prohibit such behaviour.

Emily Lawrence, campaigns manager at the League Against Cruel Sports, commented on the situation: “The behaviour of this fox hunt was entirely inconsistent with so-called trail hunting and points towards them pursuing a fox.

“It’s time for change and for the government to lay out a timetable for when it is going to ban trail hunting, remove the loopholes in the Hunting Act being exploited by hunts and introduce jail sentences for those caught breaking the law.”.

Emily added: “This shocking incident shows the blatant disregard hunts have for rural communities and could have had a disastrous impact on a project trying to help reverse biodiversity loss and restore native species to the West Country.

“Fox hunting is going on as it did before the ban and the police and courts need new powers to effectively tackle this brutal blood sport so it can be ended once and for all.”

However, Lamerton Hunt has refuted the claims, stating that it conducts ‘lawful trail hunting activities.’

A spokesperson for the Lamerton Hunt said: “The Lamerton Hunt conducts lawful trail hunting activities to comply with the Hunting Act.

“We are aware that a few hounds deviated from the trail that had been laid for them to follow on January 11 and efforts were made immediately to collect those hounds so they could rejoin the rest of the pack to continue trail hunting.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused and we will take steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again. The hunt works hard to maintain good relationships with the farmers and landowners within our hunt country.”