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Fox found dead at Surrey Union Hunt meeting, police criticised for saying it 'ran into the path of dogs' - WARNING: DISTRESSING IMAGES

Police probe ongoing into death of fox during legal drag hunt meeting in Godalming on New Year's Eve

Surrey Police has sparked outrage after suggesting a fox that died during a New Year's Eve hunt "ran into the path of dogs".

The fox was found dead after a legal drag hunt in Godalming on December 31.

A police statement said an officer visited the scene and the animal was understood to have died "after it ran into the path of dogs following a pre-laid trail in Godalming" - but members of the public have hit out at the suggestion, while the League Against Cruel Sports branded the explanation as "wholly inadequate".

Guildford Hunt Monitors - also known as Guildford Hunt Saboteurs - were tracking the Surrey Union Hunt as it rode through Godalming.

A spokesman for the group said that at around 1pm, one of its members noticed the hounds "had their heads in something", and when the group arrived at the scene they found "a fox laying lifeless on the ground with hounds still attacking".

The group took the animal and claimed there were "clearly large, fresh puncture wounds" on its body.

A hound next to the body of the fox

They said they then took it to a vet, who wished to remain anonymous but provided a verbal post-mortem report saying the fox "had been killed by a large mammal, most likely a large dog, with numerous puncture wounds to legs, throat and flank" as well as "massive trauma" to the ribcage.

The lifeless fox