FROM PROTECT THE WILD — HOUNDS OUT OF CONTROL IN NEWRY

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more SHAMEFUL! Newry Hunt kill cat in private garden Rodney's body hidden by hunt after hounds riot through garden TOM ANDERSON JAN 19 ∙ GUEST POST READ IN APP On 30 December Chloe, a dog groomer from Rathfriland, County Down, found the lifeless body of her companion animal, Rodney the cat, behind a wall close to her house. When she watched footage from a camera installed at her home, she saw what had happened: the Newry Hunt’s out-of-control hounds had entered Chloe’s property and torn Rodney apart. Instead of taking responsibility and apologising, members of the hunt callously tried to cover it up by throwing his body over the wall. Take a look at this damning footage, which Chloe shared on Facebook: ‘Lack of transparency and responsibility’ Chloe was particularly disgusted that the hunt hadn’t come clean and told her what had happened. Instead, they tried to cover their tracks. She wrote: “The failure to report the killing and the disposal of my cat’s body demonstrates a complete lack of transparency and responsibility. I consider this handling of the situation to be unacceptable and deeply distressing.” She points out that she has had no face-to-face apology from the hunt. Neither had she received any reassurance that anything would be done about it, or that changes would be made by the Hunt to prevent the same thing from happening again to someone else. Chloe said she was “heartbroken” and felt like she had been treated with total disregard. She continued: “The loss alone is heartbreaking, but the actions that followed have made this even more painful. No one should have to discover such a thing without explanation, and no family should be treated with such disregard on their own property.” ‘Total disregard for animals’ lives’ Unfortunately, this is by no means an isolated incident. Killings of companion animals by hunts are an all too common occurrence. Protect the Wild’s founder Rob Pownall knows this all too well: “It is is utterly sickening. A companion animal has been killed, their body discarded and apparently hidden, as though their life meant nothing. My heart goes out to the cat’s guardian, who is now dealing with an unimaginable loss. We have seen this mentality before with the Western Hunt in England and now again in Northern Ireland. It speaks to a culture of cruelty, secrecy and total disregard for animals’ lives. This is not an isolated incident. It is yet another reminder of the depravity that exists within hunting, and why these activities cannot be trusted to operate around animals, people or communities.” ‘Mini’s Law’ Mini the cat was killed after being savaged by hunting hounds in 2021 What Rob was referring to is the shockingly similar case of Mini the cat, who was chased and killed by hounds from the Western Hunt outside her home in west Cornwall in March 2021. The Hunt tried to hide the evidence of what happened to Mini too. But Mini’s guardian, Carly, found out the truth. She pressured Westminster to enact Mini’s law, which sought to legislate against any activity involving hunting hounds taking place in a residential area or in any other public place. The UK Government petition on Mini’s law started an important conversation and led to a debate in Westminster in 2022. While the debate didn’t result in immediate legislative change, it fed into the public discourse about the need for a ban on so-called ‘trail hunting’. On top of what happened to Rodney and Mini, hounds from the East Sussex and Romney Marsh Hunt tore through a cat sanctuary in Hastings, England in 2018. The incident scattered dozens of cats, and more than 20 of them were never found. Not just cats This year, Protect the Wild has released a report documenting the killing, disappearance or psychological traumatisation of companion animals and sanctuary animals after incidents involving hunts. It’s not just cats who have been harmed: it’s also goats, rheas, dogs, horses, alpacas and even camels. Protect the Wild’s Charlotte Smith, who authored the report, wrote: “hunting hounds have repeatedly caused widespread harm to domestic and sanctuary animals across England and Wales. This damage is not symbolic or rare, it is deeply personal, often violent, and almost always traumatic for the rural residents affected.” These incidents are not the fault of the hounds. This is on the hunts that train their dogs to kill and then lead their packs through residential areas with little regard for the communities they disrupt or the animals whose lives are ripped away from them. The Newry Hunt owes Chloe an apology for what happened. More than that, we need to stop this cruel and dangerous bloodsport once and for all. Northern Ireland is the only place in the UK where hunting mammals with hounds is still legal. An attempt to legislate against hunting through a private members’ bill was defeated in the Northern Ireland Assembly in December 2021. Chloe, Rodney’s guardian, shared a petition by the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) calling on Stormont to ban hunting with dogs. If you are a resident of Northern Ireland you can sign the petition here. Monitors and hunt sabs are on the frontline week after week, protecting both our wildlife and companion animals too. Consider joining your local group or making a donation to support their work, and check out NI Hunt Saboteurs. Read Protect the Wild’s 2025 report, ‘The True Face of Hunting with Hounds’ and take a look at our Hunt Havoc website. 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