Fox Hunt Crashes Through Funeral

More than two dozen hounds hot on the trail of a fox chased it right into a funeral gathering in the UK. A report in Peterborough Matters notes that the hunting group in question has apologized "unreservedly" and promised to put measures into place to prevent it from happening again. "I was there, it was my auntie’s funeral when they sent about 20 or 30 hounds chasing a fox through the crematorium when there was a funeral in progress," says one witness. Another complains that "you also had some idiot in his red coat on horse back darting up and down screaming and shouting without a care in the world for those families saying goodbye."

The incident has further raised tensions between hunting groups and wildlife advocates who want such hunts shut down. Though a 2004 law in the UK technically outlawed fox hunts, the measure has lots of loopholes, explains a post at the Conversation. Hunters, for example, can purportedly have their hounds follow an artificial fox scent in what's known as "trail hunting," but it's widely seen as a way to engage in actual hunting. As for the disruption of the funeral, a similar thing happened last year in a different part of the UK, notes the LeicestershireLive. (More fox hunting stories.)