Loose hounds in the road after dark

Tiddlypom

Tiddlypom

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Family member was driving home after work yesterday. It's 4.25pm, nearly dark, headlights definitely needed. Family menber was warned by me that the hunt was in the area, so be careful. He's nearly home, on a NSL country lane which can be fast and busy.

He glimpses something white in the hedge on his left. A stray sheep maybe, he brakes and slows right down.

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No, it's 10 - 15 unaccompanied hounds, travelling from left to right across the road. They have a good sniff and a look a round whilst the car driver waits for a while and wonders if their handlers will appear.

The hounds then disappear off to the right (you can see their ears pricked listening). Luckily no other traffic appeared while they were wandering all over the road. I notify a hunt official as soon as I can, assuming that they are missing a few hounds. I am thanked for my trouble, but apparently hunt officials were just on the inside of the hounds (whatever that means), so no need to worry.

So what on earth then makes it ok to call unaccompanied dogs across a road as a set of headlights approaches?

Grrr #%^*+¥# amateurs.
 
What a bunch of dicks - obviously don't goive a poo about either their hounds or other people's safety...no wonder hunts are getting such a bad name.
 
Not surprised.
Round here they hunt well into dusk, and then you get people hacking back in the dark on unlit narrow lanes, on their bay horses, with black/navy jackets and everything plastered in mud.

Yet I’m sure it would be the drivers fault if one got accidently hit.
 
When I have been out they always finish well in time. Hounds can just go off on their own, the fact their was no one with them and they were just wandering makes me think they were lost.
Because of all the agro hunts are a bit cagey about giving out phone numbers but I would have gone and looked for a car follower, even if you do not like hunting I would be worried without making sure someone knew where they were.
 
Honetpot, the hunt officials were right there 'on the inside of them', apparently, but hidden from the road. No sign of hunt vehicles anywhere. Family member hasn't a clue about the niceties of hunt protocol so reported the 'stray' hounds to me as soon as he got home, they had cleared from the road by the time he moved off in the car. The hunt was told about them within half a hour of it happening.
 
ihatework said:
Not surprised.
Round here they hunt well into dusk, and then you get people hacking back in the dark on unlit narrow lanes, on their bay horses, with black/navy jackets and everything plastered in mud.

Yet I’m sure it would be the drivers fault if one got accidently hit.
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I never understood people doing that. I always hacked there and back in full hi viz and took lights for the return journey (in case I timed it wrong/got held up, intended to be back before needing them!).
I also whipped the hi vis out when were lining along a horribly dark tree lined road for a bit... greeted by 'oh thats a good idea' the secretary used to worry about it particularly.
 
Alec, oh yes I'm still cross! Loose hounds wandering in the near dark on a NSL narrow lane on a sharp bend, what could go wrong? At best a few dead hounds and a dented car, at worst multiple human casualties. The milk lorry and the bus regularly whizz round that corner, amongst other vehicles.
 
Alec Swan said:
Does it really matter that hounds seem to have lost the huntsman and that they were crossing a public road?
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From hound perspective being hit by a car and potentially not cleanly killed is probably worse than being shot by the hunt on 'retirement' from work - so, yup, I think it matters a bit from a hound welfare perspective.
From a driver/other road user perspective it matters because it increases the likelihood of accidents with one or more vehicles and damage to property or persons. And as a pedestrian (potentially with small dog and child in tow) in the vicinity I would not feel all other (small) road users were safe with a bunch of hounds out of control, no.

ETA: unlike large grazing animals (another debate) people won't be expecting hounds in a particular place because their locations are not predictable (even to hunt followers according to the recent meet card thread in Hunting section - and certainly not to your average road user)
 
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