A pack of 50 loose dogs caused havoc in the countryside – worrying sheep, spooking horses and scaring people.
The baying hounds were seen stampeding through fields, roads and a quarry on the morning of Tuesday, October 18.
The incident occurred on the boundary edge of Renfrewshire and North Ayrshire, between Beith and Lochwinnoch.
The chaotic scenes led to police being called and panicked handlers speeding up and down Threepwood Road to get the pack back under control.
Noanie Heffron, who lives in the area, said she witnessed the rampaging hounds around 8.30am and – seeing them in a field chasing sheep and fearing for their wellbeing – decided to call the police.
“It’s not the first time we’ve seen this kind of thing,” said Noanie.
“There is normally a fox hunt here around New Year’s Day, but this time it was much, much worse.”
She believes the hounds may have belonged to the Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Foxhunt, who are based in Houston.
She continued: “The first we heard was barking and howling and looked out of our front window, because we assumed that it was a sheep worrying incident because that does happen every so often.
“I looked out of my window and saw an entire flock of sheep galloping up the hill in a panic, followed by the pack of hounds. I was looking at the sheep and I didn’t really see the hounds at that point.
“But my partner said he thought there were 50 dogs.”
It wasn’t just the sheep that the dogs distressed as horses in a nearby field were seen jumping in alarm as the swarm of animals approached.
Noanie said that, at the time she called the police, there was nobody present who appeared to be controlling them. However, she would soon see a figure appear on the peak of nearby Cuffhill with a gun crooked over their arm and a horn in their mouth as they tried to gather their hounds back in.
The huntsman and others were seen still trying to get their dogs under control around four hours later.
“It was absolute chaos for several hours. It was not in any way under control.” said Noanie.
Although fox hunting was banned in 2002, hunting with dogs is still permitted in Scotland under the guise of pest control.
The current law states that a hunt must use the hounds only for the purpose of flushing an animal out, whereupon it is to be shot by a gunman, so as not to inflict unnecessary suffering on the animal, which would otherwise be ripped apart by the hounds.
Police confirmed that no criminal offence was committed.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “On the morning of Tuesday, October 18, police were called to the Threepwood Road area of Beith, following concerns for livestock after a number of dogs were seen loose in a field.
“Officers attended and carried out enquiries. No criminality was established and there were no reports of injured livestock. Suitable advice was provided to all parties involved in the matter.”
The Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Foxhunt were asked to confirm if the dogs belonged to them but declined to comment.
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