DISTRESSING video shows a pack of hunting dogs mauling a terrified roe deer as it battles to escape.
The footage shows the deer caught and attacked three times before it eventually escaped.
But hunt sabs who filmed the incident said the deer had been bitten on the abdomen and rear and may have been fatally injured.
The incident happened north of the village Askham Richard, North Yorkshire on Saturday.
It is claimed the hunt dogs were from the Badsworth & Bramham, Moor/York & Ainsty South hunting groups which were accused of being responsible for the death of a kitten last week.
Police have appealed any witnesses to come forward.
The clip was posted by the organisation ‘West Yorkshire Hunt Saboteurs’ [WYHS] on Facebook yesterday saying: “Around midday a few stray hounds came across a deer, repeatedly bringing it to the ground, along with killing a rabbit.
“These hounds were not under the control of either huntsman or whipper, and so the pain and fear felt by this deer as it was mauled by their hounds is due solely to them.
“They’ve shown on too many occasions the lack of control they have for their hounds, as we’ve filmed them chasing roe deer twice this season already.
“These people are allowed to take a full pack of hounds out across the countryside multiple times a week, which they can not and often choose to not control, terrorising and killing wildlife, and they must be shut down.”
The video shows five hunt dogs mauling a male roe deer as it struggles to escape the jaws of the hounds. Saboteurs can be seen trying to split the pack up which gives the roe deer a chance to run away.
A hunter carrying a whip lashes towards the dogs as he also appears to try and split up the hounds.
However, the deer runs towards a fence and gets stuck trying to jump over it. It has no choice but to run the perimeter of the fence as the barking hounds close in.
A sab is heard shouting: “F***** b*****!” towards the whipper. Another sab runs towards the suffering deer. Rabbits are then seen scurrying away from the chaotic scene, the deer, badly injured, is pursued by the dogs who bring it down once again.
The sabs shout “leave it!” as the injured deer gets back to his feet and once again tries to run away from the chasing hounds. Eventually the sabs put themselves between the deer and it is able to escape.
A still image also shows a rabbit which was killed by the hounds on the same hunt.
The video has angered many in the comments.
Deryn Hagemann said: “This is the type of footage that needs to be on the national news. People will go crazy! Get it to a news channel please! Hunting with dogs needs to be stopped once and for all.”
Paul Bray added: “Absolutely appalling that poor deer but of course the hounds are only following a trial.”
Mair Ashmole said: “It really upsets me seeing things like this how can they do this to lovely animals I wish them the worst death possible.”
Dawn McDermid added: “Why can’t they just go out on their horses across fields no need to have hounds but of course it’s all about killing wildlife isn’t it!”
Jim Greensted wrote: “Seems that cats, dogs, deer are just collateral damage as far as the hunts are concerned.”
WYHS today said they believe the deer may struggle to survive.
A spokesman for WYHS said: “A male roe deer had been bitten a lot and had wounds on its underside/abdomen area, and its hindquarters. [We are] not sure if it will survive as they looked pretty bad.
WYHS believe the fault lies solely with the hunt groups.
They said: “According to the hunt they’ll be trained to hunt an animal based trail. However this hunt have a severe lack of control and we’ve filmed them chasing roe deer multiple times already this season.
“If the hunt servants could do their job properly though this could’ve been avoided, as its the role of the Whipper In (the hunter in the video), to maintain control of the pack and prevent rioting like this happening.”
Police are appealing for information after attending the scene.
A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Police said: “Around 1.45pm on Saturday 4th January 2020, police received reports of a deer which had been injured by dogs. Officers attended the location. Anyone with information is asked to please call 101 quoting reference number: 12200002126.”
This hunt is alleged to have been the same group responsible for the death of a kitten last week.
Bramham hunt were accused of an illegal fox hunt on Christmas Eve, which resulted in the death of a kitten in Scarcroft, West Yorkshire.
Seven-month-old Tiger is said to have been ‘ripped to pieces’ by the pack of hounds.
The cat lived at Cat Action Trust 1977 Leeds before he was adopted by a family on August 9.
The branch leader Shelia Pickersgill told national media: “The owner found the cat. The dogs came through and the cat was found all over the place.
“All that’s left of him is bits of fur everywhere.
“It’s disgusting that this goes on in this day and age. It’s barbaric.”
