© John Angerson
Leicester
Lady Master Jane Knight at the morning run-out of the hounds, Eastfield Farm Kennels, Leicestershire. Since the 2004 Hunting Act outlawed hunting with dogs, the Cottesmore Hunt has brought in birds of prey to pursue the foxes after the hounds have flushed them out. The 2004 act stipulates that the intention must be ‘for the purpose of enabling a bird of prey to hunt the wild mammal.’ Many experts, including the Hawk Board, deny that any bird of prey can reasonably be used in the British countryside to kill a fox that has been flushed out and is being chased by a pack of hounds