What is fox digging?
Perpetrators, known as ‘terrier men’, will send in dogs (usually small terriers) to locate the foxes in the hole, attack them and usually kill them.
Fox digging, or fox baiting, is the cruel practice of using dogs to 'flush out' and brutally kill foxes that have fled from their aggressors by hiding underground in holes or badger setts.
Perpetrators, known as ‘terrier men’, will send in dogs (usually small terriers) to locate the foxes in the hole, attack them and usually kill them. If the fox hasn’t already been killed, the fox will be dragged out of the hole, placed in a bag (bagged fox) and taken to another location where the fox will be savagely attacked by another dog until its eventual death.
Other times terrier men will just throw the fox straight to the dogs to be ripped and mangled to death on the spot. As you can imagine this process is brutal, drawn out and absolutely agonising for not only the fox, but also for the dogs that are forced to take part in this grisly and downright savage blood sport.
Unsurprisingly the dogs don’t come out of this unscathed either; often suffering from severe facial injuries due to the fox attempting to defend itself. In order to avoid raising suspicion from vets or authorities, these wounds will either be sewn up by an untrained person or simply ignored to fester and become infected.
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The practice of fox digging
The practice of fox digging shares many similarities to that of badger baiting and is usually carried out by the same groups or individuals.
Like badger baiting, fox digging has also been made illegal under the Hunting Act of 2004, shockingly however, there are some questionable exceptions to this law.
Fox digging isn’t illegal if:
- It’s in relation to game keeping i.e. to protect damage to game birds to be used later for shooting and
- No more than 1 dog is used to ‘flush out’ the fox and
- The fox is shot dead immediately as it emerges and
- The fox digger has written permission proving the land is privately owned by him/her, or has permission from the landowner to be there and
- The fox digger isn’t interfering with an active badger sett. For example, by pre-emptively filling in the entrances of live badger setts to stop the fleeing fox from entering it. Active badger setts are protected by the ‘Protection of Badgers Act 1992’ or sometimes located on a ‘Site of Special Scientific Interest’
We find these exemptions difficult to swallow and the law surrounding fox digging needs some serious reform. We believe that this blood sport has no real place in modern society and that those who participate need to be held accountable and face harsher consequences.
What to look out for
- Fox digging will take place where fox populations are at their most prevalent, such as open fields, wooded areas and farmland etc.
- Foxes are primarily nocturnal hunters, so fox digging will usually take place in the dead of night
- Fox diggers are usually older males
- Fox diggers usually use quad bikes to get around quickly
What to do if you spot fox digging taking place
If you suspect fox digging to be taking place call 999 and report it immediately. Do not approach or attempt to stop the fox diggers yourself as they are known to be violent and may react dangerously.
The best course of action is to keep a distance and try to gather any evidence you can to pass on to the police, such as photos/videos of the culprits, vehicle licence plates and coordinates of the location (we suggest using the app what3words which will easily pinpoint your location).
If the event isn’t happening live, or you suspect an individual or group to be involved with the hunting of animals using dogs (via word of mouth, social media etc) you can anonymously report them to our investigations team by clicking the button below.
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