14/08/2026
Stag Hunts blatantly ignoring the Blue Tongue epidemic in the West country ๐คฌ๐คฌ
Quantock Stag Hounds โCureโ Bluetongue โ Or Just Prove Once Again They Donโt Give a Damn
We were absolutely delighted to receive a tip-off this week that the Quantock Stag Hounds have single-handedly eradicated bluetongue from West Somerset. What a public service. What a miracle. Farmers across Exmoor and the surrounding countryside must be weeping with gratitude.
Because only a couple of weeks ago these same people were full of solemn concern. They suspended stag hunting. They spoke of the plight of farmers. They nodded gravely at the suffering of livestock keepers whose flocks and herds are being hammered by a disease that is tearing through the South West. Bluetongue is no abstract problem. It is here, it is spreading fast, it is killing animals, wrecking livelihoods, and putting enormous pressure on already stretched farming communities in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. Deer can carry it too. The responsible thing โ the human thing โ would have been to stay away.
Then yesterday happened.
While farmers are still counting losses and watching stock sicken, the Quantock Stag Hounds were out in the Fitzhead area enjoying a lovely little autumn stag hunt. Horses, hounds, the usual convoy of vehicles, the full performance. Business as usual. The โsuspensionโ lasted just long enough to look thoughtful before the bloodlust kicked back in.
So we are left with two possibilities.
Either the Quantock Stag Hounds have been quietly performing biblical-level miracles and have wiped bluetongue from the West Somerset countryside with the power of their own virtueโฆ or they never meant a word of it.
The second option has the distinct advantage of being consistent with everything we already know about them.
These people have spent years treating the Hunting Act like a menu of loopholes. Research and observation one day, flushing to guns the next, casualty rescue when it suits, trail hunting when the cameras are watching. They have been prosecuted before.
They have been caught using more dogs than the law allows. They have been filmed chasing exhausted animals to the point of collapse. And every time the public pressure mounts they produce a carefully worded statement about tradition, countryside management, or โ when the mood requires โ concern for farmers.
This latest episode strips away the last shred of pretence. The moment the urge to chase and kill became stronger than the desire to look like they cared, they were back out. Farmers can bury their animals. The Quantock Stag Hounds have a season to get on with.
They are not misunderstood countryside folk temporarily inconvenienced by disease. They are a group so addicted to the spectacle of a terrified stag being run into the ground that even a genuine agricultural crisis is just an inconvenient pause.
The suspension was never about solidarity. It was optics. And optics, it turns out, have a very short shelf life when there is a stag somewhere that hasnโt been exhausted yet.
So congratulations to the Quantock Stag Hounds. In the middle of a disease outbreak that is hurting real working people, you have managed to demonstrate, with perfect clarity, exactly what you are. Liars. Cheats and cowards. Opportunists, shamelessly trying to role play as normal folk who have compassion and empathy. And, above all, people who will always put the kill first.
The farmers of the West Country will no doubt be thrilled to know their suffering ranked so highly on your list of priorities.
