Boxing Day hunt given green light after activists attempted to replace event with wheelbarrow race
An annual Boxing Day hunt was given the go-ahead after animal rights activists tried to replace the event with a wheelbarrow race.
The Southdown and Eridge hunt in Lewes begins with a parade that attracts hundreds of spectators.
After the procession, the hunters, horses, and hounds head into the South Downs to begin the trail hunting, a controversial yet lawful activity.
However, this year, animal rights groups booked a road closure order for a charity occasion at the same time as the parade, in an attempt to thwart the tradition.
Action Against Foxhunting booked a road closure for a charity wheelbarrow race from 11am to 12pm, in a move they described as a “novel way of stopping” the hunt.
The hunt organisers were one step ahead of the activists and moved their event forward by an hour so it could ahead as normal.
Scuffles soon broke out as protesters collided with supporters during the precession.
Wielding signs that read: “Hunts not welcome here”, and “Fox hunting is a crime, not a pastime”, the protesters were surrounded by police.
Meanwhile, supporters booed the activists and told them to “go home”.
Ivan Massow, senior master of the hunt, said that the attempt by the ecowarriors was “charming and very inventive”.
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However, he added: “The Boxing Day meet is a wonderful tradition which is worth protecting. People come out in their thousands, and I am always surprised by how much support we get.”
Massow said that due to East Sussex being the vegan capital of the UK, as well as being the home of the left-wing Sussex University, meant that every move they make is watched like a hawk.
“Of all the hunts in the world to frustrate it seems silly to target us, we have never broken the rules in any way whatsoever and it would be impossible for us to do so as it would be picked up straight away,” he told The Telegraph.
“They have a narrative that we are hunting illegally even though the saboteurs come out to watch us all the time and never see us doing anything wrong. You would think they would target something that was actually cruel to animals.”
Sussex Police guarded the high street to ensure the event was safe for on-lookers and hunters.
Before the event, a spokesman for Sussex Police said: “We recognise the event is likely to attract many spectators, as well as protesters and police will be present to ensure the safety of the horses, hounds, public and police.”
The Lewes procession is not the only one of its kind today in the UK.
GB News Presenter Nigel Farage was among thousands of people joining December 26 hunts today, in a continuation of an age-old tradition.
Pictured wearing a flat gap and grinning, Farage joined supporters at Chiddingstone Castle for the Old Surrey Burstow and West Kent’s hunt in Chiddingstone, Kent.
Elsewhere, members of the Royal Family will take place in the annual Boxing Day shoot at Sandringham estate.
Protesters also flocked to Ledbury Hunt, in Herefordshire this morning, holding signs condemning the hunters.
In 2004, fox hunting was banned in England and Wales through the Hunting Act. However, trail hunting provides an alternative.
Animal urine is used for the trail, which hounds and followers hunt. However, with the activity taking place in wild areas, hounds often pick up the scent of live animals, which can sometimes result in them being killed.