Thurlow (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Emerging from the woods in a quiet corner of rural England, a small band of anti-foxhunting campaigners have just one goal: to confuse the pack of dogs chasing a fox and save its life. Fox hunts have been illegal in the UK since 2004, with trail hunting — in which packs of dogs follow a route artificially laid with a fox’s scent — permitted as a replacement. The “hunt saboteurs” say that trail hunts are used to cover up actual foxhunting and regularly gatecrash gatherings across the country, distracting the hounds and gathering evidence of lawbreaking, in what has become a fierce clash of cultures.
