A bin full of various carcasses. Source: Ecotricity
By Michael Slavin
Shocking footage has emerged of dead hunt dogs being thrown into bins to reportedly be sold for energy.
Green energy company Ecotricity started an undercover investigation into hunting groups in England, and released the footage of bins full of dead hunt dogs, foxes, and badgers.
The carcasses are reportedly then sold to be broken down into bone meal and burnt to generate electricity.
Whilst the activity of selling the bodies is not in itself illegal, the footage demonstrates various breaches of handling regulations, and exposed treatment of hunt dogs which as to now had been hidden by hunting groups.
The footage has led to calls from animal rights and anti-hunting organisations to examine the ways in which hunters treat their animals.
Chris Luffingham from the ‘League against Cruel Sports’ said that “underneath their cloak or smokescreen of respectability, the hunts risk fragrantly undermining rural life by their utter disrespect for public health and contempt for the animals in their care.”
This footage also comes in the wake of ongoing conflicts between fox hunters and hunt saboteur organisations across the country.
A spokesperson for the Manchester Hunt Sabs who we interviewed on the topic said that “it’s a commonly known fact that hunts are killing the hounds on a regular basis every season… in the footage you see foxes, badgers, pheasants, all sorts of animals being dumped into bins, and it’s very difficult for us to know how these animals have come to be in their possession, dead in the kennels.”
The National Hunting Office refused an interview but responded by commenting that “Hunts provided a valuable service for farmers and landowners across the country dealing with fallen stock and Animal by Products. Premises which collect or receive fallen stock are government approved and routinely inspected by the regulatory authorities to ensure compliance.”