A Oxfordshire man has been handed a 20 week prison sentence, suspended for two years, after he was caught on video throwing a live fox to a pack of baying hounds to be savaged. 

Oliver Francis Thompson, 32, of Old Berkshire Hunt Kennels, Farringdon, has pleaded guilty to two animal welfare offences, one of which involved encouraging his Patterdale Terrier to terrorise a captive fox.

He was employed by the Avon Vale Hunt in Wiltshire when he committed the offences in the Melksham area in 2020.

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In footage recorded in July 2020, shared between the defendant and his associates, Thompson is shown with a young fox in a trap, with his dog Nellie being encouraged to bark and menace the animal at very close quarters.

Later, the fox is taken out of the trap by Thompson and, held by the scruff of his neck, is repeatedly thrust at the barking dog 19 times. 

In a second incident filmed on Christmas Eve in December 2020, Mr Thompson, in a hunting jacket, is shown digging a fox out of its earth, surrounded by associates also wearing traditional hunting jackets, terriermen and a child. The live fox is then thrown to a pack of hounds. 

The 32-year-old pleaded guilty at Swindon Magistrates’ Court and appeared for sentencing on last Monday (December 11).

Mr Thompson was handed two separate suspended prison sentences to run concurrently; 20 weeks custody for causing unnecessary suffering to a fox (by causing the animal to be thrown to and be savaged by hounds) and six weeks suspended custody for causing unnecessary suffering to a fox (by deliberately putting it in close proximity to a dog).

In addition, one of his dogs, a Patterdale Terrier named Nellie, was deprived and awarded to the RSPCA and Mr Thompson was further ordered to pay costs of £2,500 and a victim surcharge of £128. He will also have to undertake 300 hours of unpaid work. 

Thompson’s Wiltshire-based associate Stuart Radbourne, who is also seen in one of the videos shown in court, was handed a suspended prison sentence in October of this year.

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Chief Inspector Will Mitchell, from the RSPCA’s Special Operations Unit said: “This sickening video footage demonstrates the terrible levels of cruelty and suffering that we see inflicted on animals on a daily basis.

“We think of ourselves as a nation of animal lovers, but the RSPCA’s experience shows that there are still people out there that consider it a bit of fun to throw a live animal to a pack of hounds to be ripped apart or to incite a dog to attack a fox.

“Our thanks go to everyone who has helped in this successful prosecution.”