War between foxhunters and saboteurs turns hi-tech

‘Attack drone’ use increases by both sides s during clashes

- JANE DALTON

The countryside war over foxhunting is turning hi-tech as hunters and hunt saboteurs use "attack drones" to film or interrupt one another's activities.

The battle to uphold the legal ban on foxhunting has repeatedly led to violence since the activity was outlawed in 2005.

But now, in at least one case, hunts have been filmed using a drone equipped with a weighted wire in what's thought to be an attempt to destroy aerial footage that would expose illegal foxhunting.

Wildlife protectors say drones enable them to watch hunts' behaviour without being physically attacked and to see what happens when hunts or hounds go onto private land.

Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs have revealed footage taken by their drone of what they say is the Beaufort Hunt hunting foxes and their hounds attacking a fox in a badger sett.

In what's thought to be the first case of its kind in the UK, the hunt allegedly targeted the saboteurs' drone with one of their own equipped with a wire and weight to entangle and disable the other drone.

Eventually, it caused both drones – each weighing nearly 1kg – to crash, according to Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs, who captured the footage.

A hunt rider rushed to the scene and was filmed by hand-held cameras stamping something into the ground, allegedly to destroy the drone and erase any evidence. Hunt employees were then filmed “hiding the remains of the sab drone while others relaunched the hunt’s attack drone”, according to Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs.

Police were called but the hunt monitors accused them of failing to conduct a thorough search.