Tufty was seen by the vet yesterday morning. He could barely stand and the vet said that he must have been in pain. We lay him on his side, one of us held his horns and the other stroked his face as the vet administered the lethal injection. When he was still we all lifted him onto a wheelbarrow and took him into the barn and covered him with a large black sack

This afternoon we put Tufty into the back of the Land Rover and drove, through beautiful villages and landscapes bathed in autumn sunshine, to the Oakley Hunt Kennels just outside the village of Melchbourne.

Tufty will go into the animal food chain and be fed to the 80 hunting dogs. I confess the idea made me queasy but I suppose no more so than humans eating dead flesh.

The gentleman at the hunt assured me that the dogs are friendly and boisterous but listening to such loud barking was slightly unsettling. Click below