Friday, September 26, 2025
WARNING - This video contains distressing images of animal injury and animal distress.
Andrew Knight, Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics/Director at University of Winchester, gives an insight into the way the police react to and investigate illegal hunting in the UK and how these cases are treated in court.
This talk features police footage taken from a potential illegal hunt scene, from a case which went to court. In the footage, a witness claims a deer was attacked by hunting dogs but the Surrey Union Hunt claim the deer was injured by barbed wire fencing.
Andrew Knight was asked to provide an expert statement to the courts based on this footage to help the judge decide whether there were animal welfare issues involved. At the conclusion of the talk, he reviews his statement and the results of the case.
This talk was presented at the 2015 Winchester Hunting Symposium.