This is the moment a hunter was caught stabbing a fox with a pitchfork in a horrific incident filmed by a secret camera. Paul O’Shea, 49, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty after he was exposed by anti-hunt campaigners on December 4 last year.
A disturbing video shows O'Shea dangling the fox by its tail and using a pitchfork to stab its neck. The fox desperately tries to defend itself as O'Shea pins it against a tree in a woodland near Coggeshall, Essex.
On June 22 O'Shea admitted to hunting a wild mammal with dogs and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court. In a video shared by North London Hunt Saboteurs the fox is seen fighting with a small black dog after getting caught in netting.
O'Shea picks up the fox by its tail and removes the net before plunging a pitchfork into the animal's neck. The helpless fox tries to fight back before O'Shea forces it against a tree and again stabs with the pitchfork. O'Shea, of Mount Bures, will be sentenced at the same court on August 1.
Philip Walters, a member of North London Hunt Saboteurs, said: "We are very pleased that Mr O’Shea has pleaded guilty in light of the strong evidence we provided against him. We will continue to expose and prevent illegal fox hunting in Essex and further afield."
