There’s something thrilling about the chase – that’s what we would tell each other anyway.

Foxes are vermin, their numbers need to be controlled, hunting is less cruel than shooting or snaring – those were some of the excuses.

But deep down, I knew I was doing something wrong as a pro-hunter, and that’s why I started questioning a way of life I’d always been involved with.

Before the ban

The Hunting Act came into force in 2005. By that time, I had stopped going out hunting myself for a number of reasons, but was still part of that social circle, and sometimes followed the hunt on foot.

Something that is…