CALCULATIONS FOR PROBABLE NUMBERS OF HOUNDS DELIBERATELY KILLED BY HUNTS EACH YEAR IN THE UK

SUMMARY

My examination and analysis of the data available to me regarding numbers and types of organised Hunts in the UK, numbers of hounds in each, numbers of pups bred per year and numbers in particular categories, has led me to conclude that the numbers of hounds deliberately and unnecessarily killed by their own Hunts per annum in the UK is probably somewhere between 4,942 and 7,302.

INTRODUCTION

Understandably, Hunts are extraordinarily reluctant to discuss, or let any outsider see, the brutal realities behind their turnover of hounds, let alone the sheer scale of their annual extermination programmes of surplus, deficient, miscreant and superannuated hunting dogs. It is not exactly compatible with the images of love and devotion of Hunt staff towards their hounds that they like to have filmed when trying to defend their ‘sport' from attack.

I would not allege that hunting hounds are routinely mistreated during their working lives, though it is clear that miscreants often receive pretty harsh punishment and 'rating'. Nor do I imagine that many, if any, kennel staff are entirely devoid of normal human feelings, much as encountering some of them in the hunting field might well make one think so. They must surely develop some tender feelings for their charges? Whether or no, they are, nonetheless still willing to collude with, participate in or actually conduct regular executions of numbers of perfectly healthy hounds - to serve a wholly unnecessary and selfish purpose. Little wonder then that anti-hunt campaigners regard the 'crocodile tears' shed so often by hunters with a degree of scepticism, if not outright contempt.

DATA, SOURCES, ANALYTICAL PROPOSALS

Brian Fanshawe, of the Campaign for Hunting was, however, asked some questions about the subject of hound 'culling' by the Burns Inquiry. What he told them was, it appears, mostly correct, as far as it went. Which was not very far, since his questioners clearly lacked either the knowledge or the will to subject him to any truly revelatory inquisition. Inadvertently or otherwise, this left the impression that the number of hounds deliberately killed by UK Hunts each year is markedly lower than it actually is.

One thing Mr. Fanshawe said conflicted with what had previously been accepted as a given in anti-hunt discourse about hounds, and stated definitively as fact by perhaps the greatest ever avowed hunting authority, G.F. Underhill. In his magisterial tome 'A Century of Fox Hunting' [1900] he avers that 'the average life in the hunting field is five seasons¹ - NOT the 'six or seven' suggested to the Inquiry by Mr. Fanshawe.

Underhill agrees they are entered at 18 months. So, according to him, hounds are usually 6 - not Fanshawe's 7 or 8 - when they are 'retired' [usually with a bullet to the head as pension]. It is true that evidence from former professional Huntsman, turned 'anti', Clifford Pellow² does also lend support to the idea that 6-7 seasons in the pack is closer to the modern norm. However, hunting with hounds is perhaps the most conservative and tradition-conscious of all 'sports' and I find it rather hard to believe that something as radical as increasing the hunting life span of hounds by 20-40% occurred in the intervening century at all, let alone without much in the way of visible comment.

I intend, therefore, to perform two separate sets of calculations, using different base data for each, since I cannot be certain which is more accurate.

According to the Master of Foxhounds Association website today there are 174 foxhound packs affiliated to them in England and Wales and a further 10 in Scotland. There are 8 Fell packs in Cumbria not so affiliated and a further 3 fox hunts in Ulster affiliated to the Irish Association. So there are 195 foxhound packs in the UK at present. I know of a further 114 Hunts of other types, all registered [except for 2 roe deer hunts in SW England]. This figure does not include the significant number of gun packs [aka Fox Destruction Clubs] which exist, principally in Scotland and Wales. There are hardly any published data about these, not even their numbers, and little is known about the numbers of hounds they own or how they deal with them. They are thus excluded from this paper completely.

In 2003, in a question in the House of Lords³, hunting peer Earl Ferrers gave some specific figures on organised Hunt hound numbers, which were presumably authoratitive. His figure of 11,766 entered foxhounds in the UK appears to refer to MFHA affiliated packs only, and is highly compatible with the average which I have derived from my own research.

With one exception, which I will address later, we can, therefore, presumably trust his figures on the numbers of non-foxhound hounds in other Hunts. To Ferrers' 11,766, we can add 420 foxhounds in Fell packs and about 190 in Ulster packs to reach a figure of 12,376 for all UK foxhound packs, giving an average of fractionally under 63.5 per Hunt. This is virtually identical to my own separate calculation of average 'entered' hound numbers for foxhound packs from modern data published by individual Hunts.

Crucially, though, Underhill goes on to say that 'however careful an MFH may be in breeding hounds, only half the whelps will eventually be of any use in the hunting field.'

Ever since in 1984, Captain MacKenzie, MFHA Chairman, said that the average fox hunt breeds 36 pups per year, this statement has formed the basis of anti-hunt groups attempts to estimate the number of hounds 'culled' by Hunts. The Captain was a highly authoritative figure and it is difficult to believe he could have been very far wrong. But It is also very hard to reconcile McKenzie's figures with ones published more recently, which are around half or less in number.

Whilst there may have been some reduction in the apparent cavalier wastefulness among fox Hunts of their hounds at both ends of the age spectrum since 1984, this seems unlikely to account for such a large variation, even allowing for a likely post-ban dip, so it is very hard to know in which statements to place the greater credence.

In 2004, the House of Commons All Party Group on Animal Welfare [APGAW] report on the welfare of hounds post ban [which severely overestimated the impact it would have on Hunts] cited canine behaviour and welfare experts Casey & Blackwell as having concluded that 3,412 fox hound pups were born annually in the UK, giving an average of around 19 per Hunt, though the source and derivation of this conclusion is unknown to me.

The APGAW report also asserted that 'For ethical reasons, the Group believes that no healthy dog should be put down unless absolutely all other options have been exhausted.' I believe most people would agree with this sentiment and, hopefully, all of those who purport to be 'dog lovers.'.

Following the Hunting Act 2004, and the consequent uncertainty, reported numbers bred initially dipped but appear to have been recovering strongly since, and may well have done so even more in the last couple of years, with the expectations of repeal of the Hunting Act high.

The latest figure I have seen is that given by Alistair Jackson of the Hunting Office for 2007 - 2,749, reducing the average per Hunt further to around 15. This latter figure, however, hardly seems credible, since, if all MFHA fox hunts are included, it barely covers replacement of 'retired' hounds, let alone those lost pre- and post- entry due to illness, accident and unsuitability to hunt. It is surely well below the level fox hunts would aim for if the Hunting Act were to be repealed.

How to handle these discrepancies? The Jackson figure seems unfeasibly low, even for 2007, and numbers may well have increased significantly since then. I therefore intend to disregard it. Even though it is a little older, Casey & Blackwell's figure of 19 pups/Hunt/year seems likelier to be nearer the current actuality, so I shall use that as a base datum for my primary calculations. I shall, however, perform a separate calculation employing Capt.McKenzie's 36 pups/hunt/year assertion, and the traditional allowance of 5 hunting seasons per hound.

CALCULATION 1   EMPLOYING THE DATA FROM  FANSHAWE AND OF CASEY & BLACKWELL.

If the average fox hound pack 'entry' is 63.5 strong, and the average hunting life is 6.5 seasons, then an average of 9.7 hounds will be required annually to replace 'retirees'. Note that if this is correct, then 9.3 pups per Hunt do not make it to the 'entry'.

This would appear to indicate that Underhill's assertion that only half the 'whelps' will prove 'of use in the hunting field' is as true now as it was then. - and perhaps also suggests that, if these figures are correct, fox Hunts are leaving little margin for error in their breeding programmes. This is rather in contradiction to a policy advocated by the 8th Duke of Beaufort, who, writing of another Master said 'the secret of his success was to breed a great many and put down a great many.' ['Hunting', 1906].

An average of 9.7 pups per pack should be needed to replace 7/8 year old 'retirees'. 195 Hunts x 9.7 gives a total of only 1,892 annual 'vacancies' for fox hunts. But Brian Fanshawe, of the Campaign for Hunting told Burns that 3,000 are 'to be entered'.annually. He admitted that nearly all of those ‘exiting' are killed by the Hunts.

There are 3 possible explanations I can think of for the discrepancy between the lower figure [1.892] and Fanshawe's 3,000, though these are not necessarily mutually exclusive:-

1/ Fanshawe's 'to be entered' includes hounds that, for whatever reason, get no further than their first cubbing, with some, possibly most, of these failing this 'entry exam' and being 'drafted' - presumably by being killed.

2/ The average 'retirement' age is actually significantly less than 7/8. Other stats, seem to militate against this, but this may raise questions about their accuracy. Certain casual statements made by hunt supporters in the last 25 years would seem to support the lower age estimates for 'retirees'. Indeed, in 1997 one supporter reportedly said that hounds at his Hunt were killed at around 5 years of age.⁴

3/ It may also include hounds used to replace any entered [pre-'retirement'] hounds of all ages who die following accident/illness/misadventure, or who are executed for any number of 'crimes' each year [rioting, babbling, running mute, etc] or allowed some non-lethal form of 'drafting', But, in the context, this seems unlikely. All or most such 'casualties' would occur at times of year when there are no 'pre-entry' hounds around suitable to act as replacements, not being old or experienced enough. So, the pack strength would probably only be restored during the next refurbishment. Each season's total is, then, additional to the numbers already calculated.

There are a postulated total of 1,892 ‘vacancies' per year. Mr. Fanshawe's 3,000 'To be entered' leaves 1,108 unaccounted for, who never make it as far as the pack. Fanshawe suggested as many as 340 hounds are drafted overseas or to drag packs. Frankly, as an annual average, this number does not seem credible to me. This was at a time when a pretty draconian ban was in the offing, so Hunts may have been more willing than usual to offload any 'surplus' hounds and there may have been more willing recipients. So let us deduct, say an average of just 200 from the annual discrepancy, reducing it to 908.

BUT Fanshawe offered the Burns Inquiry no figures either on how many hounds are bred, or how many might be killed between birth and entry - because he wasn't asked.

Still, a certain proportion of the pre-entry cohort will inevitably perish through accident/illness, but, in these days of advanced veterinary medicine, and, given that they are no more than 18 months old and will have been mostly in the care of experienced 'puppy-walkers', the numbers seem likely to very low. But let's allow a generous-seeming 5% of the remainder to this category. 5% of 908 = 45, and 908 - 45 = 863.

Former Hunstman Clifford Pellow once confirmed to me in a conversation in the early ‘90s that the number of pre-entry hounds killed by Hunts is considerable and that the 'culling' process starts immediately after birth - including, he said, dashing out the brains of neonates who are malformed, or deemed unsuitable in any other way, on the concrete kennels floor. ‘After all' he said to me ‘a bullet costs 10p.'.

And, if the Hunts don't kill the hounds that don't make it to the pack, where are they? Not walking round on leads as pets - we'd all have noticed that. With an average life expectancy of say, 12 years, there should be many thousands of them around at any one time. Anyway, Hunts always claim that their hounds are not suitable for domestication, even maintaining it would be 'cruel' for them. Obviously, Hunts would never be cruel, would they?

It being hard to account for this residuum any other way, I will assume that, like the 'retirees', they are indeed deliberately killed. We therefore have a running total of 1,892 'retirees' + 863 pre-entry hounds = 2,755.

To this number we must, however, add a proportion of the 'entry' who, during their planned six or so year stint with the pack, either become unable to hunt through some non life-threatening injury, or illness or are deemed guilty of faults that make them unsuitable to continue, such as the 'crimes' mentioned above. This is a more imponderable number. I will again be conservative and assume that an average of just 4 in every 100 hounds are thus afflicted each year [less than 2.5 per pack/year]. We've established a figure of 12,376 entered foxhounds in the UK. 4% of 12,376 = 495.

Our running total of deliberately killed hounds is now 2,755 + 495 = 3,250.

BUT these figures are for foxhound packs only.

Earl Ferrers told the Lords in 2003 that, besides 11,776 entered foxhounds in, it appears he meant, MFHA affiliated Hunts, there were 9,271 other hunting hounds with registered packs in the UK. Some of these are also foxhounds that have been included in the above calculations. 610 are those from the Fell and Ulster Hunts, reducing the total for further calculation to 8,661.

This includes a figure of 3,000 for 'unentered hounds' which Ferrers added at the end, reducing the total of 'entered' non-foxhounds further to 5.661. This 3.000 being the same number as Fanshawe's MFHA-affiliated 'to be entered' foxhounds is too much of a coincidence. They must surely be the same. Thus it appears that the Earl neglected to include the number of unentered hounds in non-foxhound packs, which number needs to be added to the running total.

In the absence of data, or information to the contrary, it seems reasonable to assume that breeding rates and allied practices are much the same in foxhound and non-foxhound Hunts.

There is something of a discrepancy between Ferrers' residual figure of 5,661 for non-foxhound packs and the results of my own recent examination of data from these Hunts. This suggests the average is 58 per Hunt. There should then be a total of 6,621 entered hounds. Let's split the difference and call it 6,141.

So, if 12,376 entered foxhounds require 3,000 'to be entered' pups in any one year, almost exactly half this number of entered non-foxhounds should require fractionally overhalf this number; 1,503.

I will now apply the same calculations to the non-foxhound packs as we did to the foxhound ones above, and in proportion.

There are 114 Hunts with an average pack size of 58. If, like foxhound packs, they 'retire' hounds after 6.5 seasons on average they will require an average of 8.9 hounds per pack as replacements. 114 Hunts @ 8.9 per Hunt = 1,015. If they have 1,503 hounds 'to be entered' then 488 are unaccounted for.

Let us now apply the same calculations to this as we did above for foxhounds.

The total for numbers presumed deliberately killed is, then, 1,015 'retirees' + 677 = 1,692.

Add this to the number of foxhounds believed deliberately killed and the figure is 3,250 + 1,691= 4,942

CALCULATION 2     ACCEPTING MCKENZIE AND UNDERHILL'S ASSERTIONS .

So, MacKenzie's per hunt 36 pups x 195 fox hunts = 7,020 hounds, and 7.020 - 3,000 [the ‘entry'] = 4,020 pups unaccounted for.

If, however, the average life of an entered hound is only 5 seasons, then a larger number are required as replacements. 63.5 hounds per pack/5 = 12.7 hounds, x 195 Hunts = 2,476. This leaves a startling 4,544, unaccounted for, or 23.3 per Hunt.

• Deduct hounds drafted to foreign and drag packs. Given the larger surpluses in this scenario, Fanshawe's 340 figure seems more likely as a regular average, so let's use that. 4,544-340 = 4,204.
• Deduct. 4% lost to illness/accident etc. 4% of 4,204 = 168, and 4,204 - 168 = 4,036
• Add back 4% of entry killed due to disability or 'crimes'. 4% of 12,376 = 495, and 4,036 + 495 = 4,531

Again, these figures cover only MFHA affiliated fox hunts. There are figures from the 114 non-foxhound Hunts to add on.

These have an average 58 entered hounds, so the replacement number for 'retirees' needed is 58/5 = 11.6 per pack. The total is 114 x 11.6 = 1,322.

The number of pups born per annum per hunt, assuming again that they follow the same practices as fox hunts, is 36 x 114 = 4,104, so the number unaccounted for is 4,104 - 1,322 = 2,782.

• Deduct hounds drafted to foreign and drag packs. Again, given the larger surpluses in this scenario, it seems reasonable to take a pro-rata figure based Fanshawe's 340 for foxhound packs. Say 171, and 2,782 - 171 = 2,611
• Deduct. 4% lost to illness/accident etc. 4% of 2,611 = 104, and 2,611 - 104 = 2,507
• Add back 4% of entry killed due to disability or 'crimes' . 4% of 6.612 = 264, and 2,507 + 264 = 2,771

The number of foxhounds deliberately killed by Hunts can now be added to the number of non-foxhounds - 4,531+ 2,771 - to give the overall total in this scenario:- 7,302.

CONCLUSIONS

As ever, with such calculations, the final totals depend upon the statistical evidence relied upon and assumptions made.

I am as certain as I can be of the figures regarding numbers of entered hounds used in both sets of calculations above and I have deliberately been conservative where I have made estimates of the numbers of hounds likely to be or be killed for particular reasons.

For the purposes of quoting, and further analysis, by campaigners in England and Wales, it should be remembered that the totals include Scottish and Ulster Hunts. These are, though, a very small proportion of the total. The Hunting Act 2004 applies, of course, only to England and Wales and, these days, it is mostly hunting in these areas that we talk about.

Whichever critical statistics considered above are the more accurate, we should be on defensible ground if we quote figures of between about 5-7,000 hounds deliberately killed by all registered UK Hunts per year, and about 3,250-4,500 for English/Welsh registered fox Hunts.

Alan Kirby, M.Sc, Associate of Protect Our Wild Animals [POWA] 21-12-2011

www.powa.org.uk

FOOTNOTES

1. "A hound begins to hunt at 18 months..... and his average life in the field is five seasons..: therefore at least 20% of the full strength of the pack must be entered annually to fox..... it is our experience that, however careful an MFH may be in breeding hounds, only half the whelps will eventually be of any use in the hunting field."  G.F.Underhill, 'A Century of English Fox Hunting' [1900]

2. The former professional huntsman of the Tredegar Farmers Fox Hounds, with 40 years experience as a hunt servant, who resigned in the early ‘90s because he could not persuade the Masters that the Hunt should desist from various cruel malpractices. He actually had a change of heart about hunting altogether, and told his harrowing and revelatory story to the League Against Cruel Sports [published as 'A Brush with Conscience' 1991]. One of the Hunt Masters, Howard Jones, sued him for libel and lost, at a cost of at least £100,000.

3. House of Lords, 16-9-03 Earl Ferrers:  'My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that astonishing reply. Does he not realise that if the Bill becomes law 11,766 foxhounds, 3,600 beagles, 1,200 harriers, 511 mink hounds, 420 fell hounds, 220 deer hounds, 300 basset hounds and 3,000 unentered hounds will be destroyed because there will be nothing for them to hunt? Is not the noble Lord ashamed of that?'
Lord Whitty:  'My Lords, that adds up to roughly the 20,000 to which I referred, several thousand of which in practice are destroyed every year because they outlive their usefulness or their ability to join the pack. Therefore, it is not unusual for hunts to destroy hounds..... '

4. In the late ‘90s, a journalist wrote an article for the Independent newspaper, after going out with the Vale of White Horse hunt, in which he stated: "When Mr Bailey's [the professional Huntsman] pack reaches retirement age, usually about 5 years old, he shoots it and feeds it to the others. This practise, according to a hunt aficionado, is apparently to ‘give the hound one last run'. In the stomach of his chums." Jim White on the VWH, 14 February 1997.

The supporter may or may not have been fantasising or spinning the journo a line about the feeding. Naturally, Mr.Bailey denied it and even challenged the journalist's account of what he'd been told, but Mr. White stuck to this. Whether this practice actually ever happened at the VWH or not, I am personally disinclined to believe it is common in hunt kennels and there is no real evidence I know of to support its existence at all. The reality of how we know redundant hounds are dealt with is bad enough without having to postulate further horrors.
Quite why the VWH supporter would have suggested hounds are 'retired' at around 5 if the reality is 7/8 is, however, another matter.