Six men have been arrested and 22 dogs seized in police raids over suspected illegal fox hunts across several English counties.
The men were arrested in dawn raids on Wednesday by police from Kent, Norfolk, Sussex, and Thames Valley, in one of the UK’s largest ever fox hunting investigations.
The men were all later released after questioning while inquiries continued. It is understood they were suspected of acting as terrier men, preventing foxes going to ground so the mammals can be caught by dogs. The practice is banned by the Hunting Act 2004.
RSPCA officers who took part in the raids seized 10 dogs near Canterbury and Folkestone in Kent, three near Farringdon in Oxfordshire, and nine in Norfolk, in an area near Wisbech.
ITV News, which first reported the raids, claimed that other potentially illegal hunts were alerted to the raids as they took place. It quotes a hunt WhatsApp group message as saying “Alert everyone in your area they could be visited.”
An RSPCA spokesperson said: “A number of warrants took place on Wednesday 18 January across several counties as part of an operation looking into alleged animal welfare and wildlife offences.
“Our officers joined police officers from the Kent, Sussex , and Norfolk [forces] and with Thames Valley police for warrants at six addresses.”
The 22 dogs seized were mostly terriers; there were some lurchers. They were placed in RSPCA care.
The charity’s spokesperson added: “We would like to thank all the forces for approaching this large-scale operation collaboratively. As this is now an ongoing investigation we can’t go into any further detail at this time.”
In a statement the Hunt Saboteurs Association said: “We’re pleased that these raids have happened and it’s great that the RSPCA and police are finally clamping down.
“The leaked hunting office webinars described terrier men as the ‘soft underbelly’ of hunting as it’s difficult to justify their presence if the hunts are operating within the law. If hunts are indeed hunting within the law, as they still claim, then there is no need for terriers and terrier men.”
Kent police confirmed that four men, aged 21, 37, 44 and 61, were arrested in east Kent during the raids. Norfolk constabulary said a man in his 50s was arrested in the Wisbech area. And Thames Valley police said a 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion, or of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
All the men have since been released as the investigation continues.
