IN a macabre gesture of defiance against an outspoken opponent of hunting, six mutilated fox carcasses were dumped at her gate.

All Creatures Great and Small manager Viv Harris found the carcasses as she arrived for work at the Llanfrechfa sanctuary, near Cwmbran, at 6am. Miss Harris said she is "sickened" by the incident.

No-one has claimed responsibility for the action, and police say it will be difficult to trace the culprits.

But Miss Harris believes she was targeted after speaking out against hunting in the Argus last month.

"These barbaric killers are nothing but cowards," she said. "I dedicate my life to caring for animals and I should be able to get on with that without being disturbed by these atrocities."

A vet confirmed that the foxes, five male and one female, were killed within the last two to three days.

They had suffered multiple bite wounds to the chest, neck and abdomen, and one fox's skull was crushed.

Miss Harris said: "If anyone has a point to make why not come and make it face to face instead of acting like this?"

In an Argus article into the hunting debate last month Miss Harris, who has hand-reared foxes at the sanctuary, said hunting was disgraceful and called for a ban.

Miss Harris said she has good relations with local hunts and has no idea who targeted her.

It will cost the sanctuary around £100 to dispose of the six carcasses, money that Miss Harris would otherwise spend on caring for some of the 450 animals she helps look after.

Adrian Simpson, director for the Countryside Alliance Wales, condemned the incident. "This is quite a tasteless action," he said.

"The hunting debate has become polarised and people have become extremely angered. They feel the democratic process has failed them. But this action will only achieve adverse publicity for the cause."

Cwmbran police sergeant David Wallace said: "At the moment we are treating this as a one-off incident.

"Unless someone comes forward to claim responsibility we have very little way of finding out who did it."

The Argus article provoked a huge response from readers on both sides of the hunting argument.

The House of Commons voted by a large majority to ban hunting with dogs last month and the law is expected to come into force in 18 months.

Huntmaster Gary Yeomans, of the Monmouthshire Hunt, said: "This is absolutely stupid and whoever has done it is certainly nothing to do with us.

"We would not condone this kind of ridiculous behaviour. Feelings are running pretty high and people tend to do stupid things, but this is not the way to go forward."