A female foxhunter has been named and condemned by the Royal Society For the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) after she was caught on video footage Saturday punching and kicking a distressed horse. Sarah Moulds, a primary school teacher and a local Pony Club leader was seen lashing out at a white pony after it had run out of the back of a trailer and into the road.
The 37-year-old Moulds, who is said to be a mother-of-two, is also a teacher at Somerby Primary School and a director of the Knossington & Somerby Preschool in Leicestershire. The video footage showed Moulds in her cream breeches and navy jacket during the Cottesmore Hunt, which is a foxhound hunting pack based in Rutland, East Midlands.
According to The Sun, Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs, an anti-hunting group, filmed the sickening incident while they were observing the Cottesmore Hunt. The group said the footage captured Moulds on film grabbing the reins and kicking the horse in its torso. She then repeatedly slaps the white horse in the face and drags it back into the trailer.
The Cottesmore Hunt has said that they do not condone any of Moulds’ actions caught on the video “under any circumstances”.
The video was shared by the saboteurs on social media gaining ire and condemnation from dozens of netizens who reported the incident to the RSPCA. The organization also confirmed it would be launching a full investigation into the incident after the footage sparked much online outrage.
"This footage is really upsetting. We will always look into complaints made to us about animal welfare,” the RSPCA said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Hunting Office also condemned the foxhunter’s actions, saying Moulds is not a member of the hunting associations. The governing body told media that “it expects the highest level of animal welfare at all times - both on and off the hunting field”.
Just last month, the 60-year-old director of the Masters of Foxhounds Association, Mark Harkinson was found guilty on charges of encouraging or assisting others to covertly carrying out illegal fox hunts.
Hankinson had advised members of the Hunting Office to use another legal means of the sport called trail hunting as a “smokescreen”. Trail hunting is done with horseback riders and hounds following a trail or path that has been previously laid with a fox’s scent. This supposedly would deter any injuries or deaths of hunters and hounds during the hunt.
Harkinson was ordered to pay a fine of £3,500 ($4700).
