Will Denne: Pleased to get Sexton back

The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) claimed responsibility for the theft at the time, saying it was forced to take action because the government had failed to ban hunting with dogs.

The police said Sexton had been castrated and an attempt had been made to remove the identifying tattoo on his ear.

Hunt secretary Will Denne said: "We are very pleased to get Sexton back, he was one of our prized hounds and for our jubilee year in 1997 he was used as the model for a bronze sculpture."

Reward

He added that Sexton's return has given hunt members a faint hope of finding the other dogs but said they still fear some may have been killed.

The hunt has offered a �5,000 reward through the police to get all their beagles back and catch those responsible.

The ALF has admitted stealing the dogs

After the dogs were taken, the ALF said they had been placed in loving homes.

In a written statement, the group said the theft was a deliberate attempt to stop hunts in the region, and warned it would be part of an ongoing direct action campaign against hunting.

Countryside groups condemned the theft as heartless and the Wye Beagles Hunt said the theft had wiped out 53 years of breeding at the kennels.

It has continued its normal Wednesday and Saturday meetings since the thefts by borrowing hounds from other hunts in the South East.