Phillip: Master of Fox Hounds in the east of England: 'If I see a loophole, I gallop through it'
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Independent Minds
We hunt in quite a well-populated area and it's also very flat, so we can't go and hide in the hills like other packs can. So we would say that we are hunting within the law, using a bird of prey.
The hounds have also one or two "accidents," as we call them but I'd only be prosecuted if they could prove intent. That won't happen. We've had police watching us, and they're pretty clueless about what's going on, and have no desire to prosecute. We are out twice a week; they know where we are and let us get on with it.
If I see a loophole, I will gallop right through it. Some people really take the piss. You hear rumours of hunts whose eagles never leave a car; or where the eagles are actually cardboard cut-outs. It's a nightmare for the police and CPS. There are definitely fewer foxes. After the ban, a lot of shooting estates started to crack down hard on them. So we don't see or kill quite as many as we used to. Of course, that doesn't mean the ban has helped foxes.
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