The historic Cotswold Hunt has been suspended after shocking footage emerged of a fox allegedly buried alive in a bag.
The practice of ‘fox-bagging’ – where a fox is captured, trapped and then released for hounds to chase during a hunt – is illegal.
A group of hunt saboteurs filmed the alleged discovery of the young female fox buried in a man-made den during a hunt on the Miserden Estate in Gloucestershire on March 18.
The Cotswold Hunt has since been suspended and is facing investigation by the British Hound Sports Authority after the footage was shared by Channel 4 News.
Wildlife rescue experts said the rescued fox was possibly lactating at the time of discovery and the bag she was found in was ‘sodden’ with urine suggesting she had been trapped for many hours or even days.
Footage captured by hunt saboteurs appears to show a fox being trapped in a bag during a meet. Pictured: Saboteurs appearing to take the fox out of the bag
The saboteurs, one of whom is pictured here speaking to Channel 4 News, claim to have found the fox while a hunt was taking place
Hunting foxes with hounds was banned 18 years ago, although the law does allow the dogs to follow a scent trail laid.
Bagging foxes to be hunted was illegal before the introduction of the ban in 2004.
A spokesperson for Cirencester Illegal Hunt Watch, which captured the footage, said: ‘We were shocked and sickened by what we found.
‘The small, terrified vixen had been tied up in a bag, stuffed into a chamber under the ground called an Artificial Earth awaiting her cruel fate.
‘Hounds were marking the ground where she was buried and we believe she would have been released and hunted by the bloodthirsty psychopaths out with the hunt if we hadn’t been there.
‘This poor fox would be disorientated away from her territory and could possibly have cubs dependent on her elsewhere.’
Naturalist and Spring Watch presenter Chris Packham told Channel 4 News: ‘We live in one of the most nature depleted groups of nations on the planet.
‘We are in the midst of a biodiversity crisis. We cannot waste wildlife simply for human gratification. It’s abhorrent.
‘Imagine if that was someone’s pet dog that was tied in a bag, in a hole, in their garden.
‘But somehow or other, because it’s a fox and we have the ghastly tradition of fox hunting in the UK, they are getting away with it.’
It is the latest allegation of illegal hunting practices as the season draws to a close, with last month’s Avon Vale Hunt appearing to show hunt members digging out foxes from a den before releasing them to the hounds.
Naturalist Chris Packham, pictured here speaking to Channel 4 News, said the incident was ‘abhorrent’
It is claimed the fox was found while the hunt was on the ground of Miserden Estate (pictured) in Gloucestershire
In a statement to Channel 4 News, the British Hound Sports Association said: ‘The BHSA has launched an immediate investigation following allegations being made against one of its member hunts.
‘Although spurious allegations are regularly made about hunts’ activities by anti-hunting activists and foul play cannot be ruled out at this stage, the seriousness of these allegations has resulted in the Cotswold Hunt being suspended from the BHSA whilst an investigation is conducted.
‘If there is any evidence of illegal activity or a breach of the BHSA’s core principles, the matter will be referred to the Hound Sports Regulatory Authority to consider appropriate disciplinary measures.’
Miserden Estate told Channel 4 the hunt were ‘allowed onto the estate with the strictest understanding that they hunt within the law’, adding they would help the investigation and ban the hunt if found guilty.
The Cotswold hunt did not respond to a request for comment from TV station. MailOnline has attempted to contact the hunt for comment.
On its website, the Cotswold Hunt claims to trace its history back more than 160 years, with the Cotswold Hounds set up in its present form for its first meet at Dowdeswell Woods in November 1858.
The organisation currently hunts from kennels at Ossage Farm ‘across a country stretching from Cheltenham in the West to Northleach in the East, and from Toddington in the North to Stroud in the South’.
On its website, the hunt says its objective is currently to ‘work for the re-introduction of lawful hunting generally, as well as in the Cotswold Hunt Country’.
It adds it wishes to ‘maintain an establishment as a kennel to breed foxhounds in order to retain their bloodlines and to meet biodiversity responsibilities, to undertake hound and equestrian activities to facilitate that end and to promote support for these objectives through social intercourse by members’.