“GET OUT. GET OUT”: Scenes of chaos during shameful cub hunt in Limerick
“GET OUT. GET OUT”: Scenes of chaos during a shameful cub hunt in Kildimo, County Limerick (29 September 2026). Out-of-control hounds invaded gardens and were seen running in front of vehicles.
Watch the video at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0gJefaBMho
This is the typical havoc suffered by landowners and residents during hunting season, with hunters releasing packs of killer dogs and allowing them to roam in and out of people’s properties.
During this particular incident, a fox was seen running. It is unknown if the unfortunate creature was caught and ripped apart.
This is replicated across the country, as barbaric cub hunting season continues. This barbarism occurs between August and October to introduce new, inexperienced hounds to the taste of fox blood. As acknowledged in hunting reports, it is done to teach hounds how to hunt and to “ensure that the fox gets used to running” ahead of the main hunting season.
Fox hunts refer to this appalling assault on nature as “Autumn Hunting” but their pathetic euphemism does not hide the fact that it’s one of Ireland’s nastiest acts of animal cruelty.
Keep hunters off your property
Immediately contact the Gardai if members or followers of the hunt trespass on your land. Under the Control of Dogs Act http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1986/en/act/pub/0032/print.html dogs must be kept "under effectual control" so if hunt hounds come on to property where they do not have permission to be, the Gardai should be notified. Try and take photos or video footage as evidence.
Contact the Gardai also if there is a breach of Section 44 of the Wildlife Act. This makes it an offence for any person who is not the owner or occupier of land to carry onto that land, without permission, any firearm, net, or other weapon, instrument or device capable of being used for hunting a wild bird or a wild animal
https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1976/act/39/enacted/en/print#sec44
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2000/en/act/pub/0038/print.html#sec50
If trespass occurs, find out the name of the hunt and the person in charge. Have any damage independently assessed and contact your solicitor with a view to seeking compensation. Avoid accepting an informal apology from the hunt or "off the record" payment as this is unlikely to stop further trespass.
Send a warning-off letter by registered post to all hunt masters in your area. You may also wish to put a notice in your local newspaper to highlight that your land is strictly off-limits. These are both optional - hunters have no right to enter property without permission and it is unacceptable for them to claim that they didn't know that your lands are private and preserved.
Please see below for a selection of extracts from the Irish Field focusing on cub hunting. After reading, please scroll down and join us in demanding a ban on cruel fox hunting.
"They [the hounds] will be ushered into a carefully-chosen covert, be it a neat field of maize or a steep-sided valley overgrown with gorse and hawthorn, and the few hardcore followers will dispose themselves at strategic points around the edges to encourage both foxes and hounds to remain within...Autumn hunting is for the education of the young - boisterous newly entered puppies; fidgety, green young horses; keen boys and girls who think nothing of rising before the sun in the hope that they’ll be invited to do a bit of whipping-in...Young hounds must first learn to keep their heads down and carefully work the line of their fox in covert if they are to produce the good runs of January and February..." Irish Field, 5 September 2025
“Autumn hunting (September and October) can start anytime after 6am and normally lasts three to four hours. Autumn hunting is an important rite of passage for all young hounds - it teaches them how to hunt. Pups are born between Christmas and March, but usually closer to March. They stay at the kennels until they are eight to 10 weeks old. Autumn hunting also serves another purpose, in that it allows the country to be hunted prior to the opening meet. This is done to ensure that the fox gets used to running. Initially a fox won’t stray far from earth (their den). By hunting the coverts early on, the fox will get used to running. During autumn hunting the huntsman will try to get around as much of the country as possible." Irish Field, 9 February 2017
“The tranquil waters of Lough Gur were the venue for the Co Limerick Foxhounds autumn hunting where it was a more than pleasant morning...Hounds drew around the very picturesque lake and found a brace [2 foxes], hunting on towards the back of the farm.” Irish Field, 24 October 2025 https://www.theirishfield.ie/sport-horse/reports/hunting-tranquil-autumn-hunting-with-the-limericks-890344
“There were over 30 mounted, including the new huntsman...for a morning of autumn hunting. Despite an unfavourable weather forecast, last Sunday morning proved dry and pleasant for a morning of autumn hunting for the Scarteen Hunt...Hounds had a smashing morning” Irish Field, 31 October 2025
“For me, autumn hunting is the best time of the season as the countryside is looking its very best. From the time the huntsman puts the hounds into the first covert at 6.30am and you notice some of the new entry looking around unsure of themselves, realising quickly it’s better to follow their elders. When hounds open in fine voice it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand. For those that hunt to ride rather than ride to hunt, it’s an opportunity to observe the direction the huntsman draws a covert and to get familiar with the calls on the hunting horn...” Irish Field, 8 September 2024.
ACTION ALERT
Please get in touch with all your local TDs and urge them to back a ban on fox hunting. Visit the Oireachtas website for contact details https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/34
Contact party leaders and 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/
X: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Simon Harris TD
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: 01 281 3727
Email: simon.harris@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DeputySimonHarris
X: http://www.twitter.com/SimonHarrisTD
Mary Lou McDonald TD
Leader, Sinn Fein
Tel: (01) 727 7102
Email: marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD
X: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
Keep hunters off your land
Sign and share our “Ban Blood Sports in Ireland” petition
https://www.change.org/petitions/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland
Sign and share the Uplift petition
https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/petition-to-ban-fox-hunting-in-ireland
Watch our campaign video
It’s time for Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Sinn Fein to ban fox hunting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbJPHwlp5dk
SEE ALSO
Cruel cub hunting “teaches young hounds how to hunt”
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2026/09/23/cruel-cub-hunting-teaches-young-hounds-how-to-hunt/
“Ban Fox Hunting” bill shamefully voted down in Dail Eireann – how did your TDs vote?
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2025/12/18/ban-fox-hunting-bill-shamefully-voted-down-in-dail-eireann-how-did-your-tds-vote/
Old excuses for fox hunting won’t wash – it’s time to outlaw barbaric bloodsport
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2025/05/30/old-excuses-for-fox-hunting-wont-wash-its-time-to-outlaw-barbaric-bloodsport/