Foxes get fat “courtesy of the hunt” and forced to “sing for their supper”

Petition updateBan Blood Sports in IrelandFoxes get fat “courtesy of the hunt” and forced to “sing for their supper”

Irish Council Against Blood SportsMullingar, Ireland

Jul 13, 2025

Foxes who get fat “courtesy of the hunt” at a hunt knackery are forced to “sing for their supper” by running for their lives and providing hunters with a target to chase, a sickening report in the Irish Field revealed.

Referring to a pair of foxes who were chased by dogs in what was described as “a flier of a hunt”, the Irish Field article stated: “You could say it was payback time, as sometimes you have to sing for your supper. In this case, these two foxes have a larder on site probably feasting nightly in the knackery in the kennels getting fat courtesy of the hunt, so it was only fair that they give the followers a good run...”

The February 2024 report focused on Northern Ireland's Iveagh Foxhounds hunt.

One of the two foxes ran towards a hill and the pack of hounds “settled on the second fox”.

The dogs “pushed him through left-handed out the side of the bog, crossing a wide drain and a gate at speed into McClory’s”.

The hounds “were hot in pursuit heading for the Old Banbridge to Belfast Railway line and the Ballycross Road” before the fox “turned right-handed for Dromnavaddy Lough, but just before it, he swung right-handed again crossing the road into McAteer’s and right-handed again into Stevie Sands’ and left over Steins Hill”.

The chase continued with the fox running “into McKnight’s and parallel to the Ballycross Road and right-handed into Patterson’s, coming into sight again coming down the hill”.

The fox was marked to ground “after a cracking run” during which “horses and followers had been pushed to the limit”.

The report ended by stating: “These foxes were probably dining in the kennels again that night, and who would deny them after they gave such a cracking day’s sport, and they are there for another good day in the future!”

It added that “it would be difficult to match that run, but apparently they had a few equally good days the following weeks”.

DID YOU KNOW? Irish taxpayer-funded Horse Racing Ireland has handed out €13,796,550 to hunts since 2014 (in the form of point to point racing grants), including over €1.7 million for 2024. The Iveagh Foxhounds hunt has received over €169,000 in grants.

TAKE ACTION

Join us in urging Sinn Fein and the DUP to pledge support for John Blair MLA’s upcoming bill which aims to secure a ban on hunting with hounds in Northern Ireland.

Mary Lou McDonald TD
Leader, Sinn Fein
Tel: (01) 727 7102
Email: marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://x.com/MaryLouMcDonald
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Gavin Robinson MP
Leader, DUP
Email: gavin.robinson.mp@parliament.uk
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Twitter: https://x.com/GRobinsonDUP
DUP Headquarters
Tel: 028 9047 1155
Email: info@mydup.com

Email Sinn Fein MLAs and ask them to pledge support for the bill

aine.murphy@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;aisling.reilly@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;caral.nichuilin@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;caoimhe.archibald@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;cathal.boylan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;cathy.mason@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;ciara.ferguson@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;danny.baker@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;declan.kearney@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;deirdre.hargey@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;sinead.ennis@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;gerry.kelly@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;colm.gildernew@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;jemma.dolan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;john.odowd@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;linda.dillon@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;liz.kimmins@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;maoliosa.mchugh@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;declan.mcaleer@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;philip.mcguigan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;michelle.oneill@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;nicola.brogan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;orlaithi.flynn@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;padraig.delargy@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;pat.sheehan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;emma.sheerin@mla.niassembly.gov.uk

Email DUP MLAs and ask them to pledge support for the bill

david.brooks@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;deborah.erskine@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;joanne.bunting@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;emma.little-pengelly@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;pam.cameron@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;phillip.brett@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;cheryl.brownlee@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;edwin.poots@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;thomas.buchanan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;harry.harvey@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;william.irwin@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;maurice.bradley@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;keith.buchanan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;diane.dodds@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;gary.middleton@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;gordon.lyons@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;jonathan.buckley@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;michelle.mcilveen@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;paul.frew@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;paul.givan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;stephen.dunne@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;trevor.clarke@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;brian.kingston@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;diane.forsythe@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;peter.martin@mla.niassembly.gov.uk;alan.robinson@mla.niassembly.gov.uk

Ban hunting with dogs in Northern Ireland – sign and share the petition
https://www.change.org/p/the-northern-ireland-assembly-ban-hunting-with-dogs-in-northern-ireland

Help get fox hunting banned in the Republic of Ireland

Please get in touch with all your local TDs and urge them to support Ruth Coppinger TD’s Animal Health & Welfare (Ban On Fox Hunting) Bill when it returns to Dail Eireann. Visit the Oireachtas website for contact details https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/34

Contact the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Sinn Fein and the Labour Party. Tell them that you want fox hunting, hare coursing and all bloodsports banned.

Micheál Martin TD
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Tel: 01 619 4000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD

Simon Harris TD
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: 01 281 3727
Email: simon.harris@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
X: http://www.twitter.com/SimonHarrisTD
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Mary Lou McDonald TD
Leader, Sinn Fein
Tel: (01) 727 7102
Email: marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD

Ivana Bacik TD
Leader, The Labour Party
Tel: (01) 6183136
Email: ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ivanabacik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bacikivana/

Keep hunters off your land

If you are a landowner, make your land off-limits to hunters. Find out more about how to do this on our Farmers/Landowners page – http://www.banbloodsports.com/farmers.htm

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