A prestigious private school full of rich kids is facing backlash after its huntsman admitted to an illegal wildlife murder. Done footage captured the controversial hunt as Stowe Beagles were seen tracking and ripping apart a European Brown Hare. It then shows members of the elite Buckinghamshire boarding school congratulating each other on the kill.
We, the public, only have until 18 June to back a total ban on the trail hunting — that’s when the government consultation closes. It is our last chance to close this legal loophole for good and stop these senseless killings.
Blood sports for posh schoolboys
The damning evidence led to a criminal conviction at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on 4 June 2026. Philip Kennedy, huntsman of the Stowe Beagles, pled guilty to hunting a wild mammal with dogs at Crockwell Farm in Northamptonshire.
Kennedy was fined a pathetic £258 and ordered to pay a £103 victim surcharge and £585 in costs. That’s nothing considering the UK Hunting Act 2004 banned hare hunting with hounds over 20 years ago.
Yet the Stowe Beagles still operates as an OFFICIAL extracurricular activity in the school’s games department. Footage shows the pack chasing a hare into a fence line before ripping the poor creature apart. Three members then arrive at the murder scene, shaking hands in celebration. Some members are believed to be schoolboys according to animal rights activists.
So what the hell is going on? Are we teaching rich kids that breaking the law is something to applaud? One rule for the rich, and another for the rest of us it seems.
Ilegal hunt activities are being normalised
Stowe School is not the only educational institution that maintains active hunts. Eton College and Radley College both have kennels for their own packs of hounds. Ampleforth and Marlborough Colleges also maintain strong links with local hunt groups.
Wealthy children assist huntsmen as whippers-in and occupy leadership roles on hunt committees. A Horse & Hound article notes that these school hunt packs are training the next generation of foxhound masters.
For generations, ‘young gentlemen’ (and now some ladies) have followed the well-worn path of masterships from school beagles to college beagles before taking a pack of foxhounds.
The Stowe and Royal Agricultural College Beagles have produced the greatest number of masters and huntsmen of foxhounds over the past 50 years
Kennedy has worked at the Buckinghamshire boarding school since 2003, but his profile has been scrubbed from their website. Kennedy supervised the supposed transition from hunting live animals to legal trail hunting. What the recent conviction proves is that Stowe School has been running illegal hunts. This pisses all over existing legislation.
School hunts send the message that the wealthy are above the law, because their education is paid for in ridiculous sums of cash. And what’s a £1,000 in fines to people paying £50k in school fees yearly… pocket change. If issued to one of us, a fine like that would mean not eating for a month.
Activists slam the school over safeguarding
Following the conviction, Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) chair Simon Russell sent an open letter to Stowe School head Anthony Wallersteiner. His letter states that clear video evidence is proof of a premeditated act in front of schoolboys. Russell wrote that the celebratory handshakes shared between the murderers suggest illegal hare hunting is routine at Stowe.
Russell warns the school of corporate liability under Section 10 of the Hunting Act 2004. This means that school officers face prosecution if illegal hunts occur with their consent or connivance. Russell framed the incident as a severe safeguarding failure that desensitises kids to suffering and murder.
The letter cites the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. This protects kids from violence inflicted on animals. But the Stowe Beagles are always travelling to remote locations. They have previously visited the notorious Coniston Hounds, a pack that has been caught abusing foxes. Exposing these rich kids to deliberate animal abuse is a massive safeguarding risk… so why is the school silent on Kennedy’s conviction? Normalising suffering and death to children just means they will grow up to become less empathetic adults.
The HSA is demanding that school governors disband the hunt immediately and face an inspection. Will these elitist educational institutions finally act? Or will they continue to show kids that killing cute fluffy creatures and breaking the law is a privilege the ruling class is entitled to?
Featured images via the Hunt Saboteurs Association
By Antifabot
