Vinnie Jones has come under fire from animal lovers and campaigners after a photo of more than 100 dead foxes was posted to his Twitter account.
The football-turned-actor faced a barrage of criticism over the image, which was posted alongside the message: “A real night lamping #foxes - anyone beat this?”
Naturalist Chris Packham slammed the image, writing on social media: “To kill, then line up, photograph and then publicly celebrate this slaughter is psychopathic - end of. A product of the pitiful pitiless.”
But Jones - who has publicly discussed his passion for hunting in the past - has denied that he posted the tweet, claiming he was hacked.
“I have just woke up to see these tweets with fox pics, this is a hack, I’ve never seen this pic in my life and did NOT tweet. It is a HACK!” The tweet was deleted from Jones’ account on Saturday night.
According to the Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels actor, the photo was taken in Australia following a cull in Victoria.
Jones told the Daily Mail: “It is absolutely nothing to do with me whatsoever.
“I’d never seen the picture until this morning when I’d seen people going mad on Twitter saying I had done this and that. I was shaking, I’d never seen the picture, and I’d never seen that many foxes.”
He added: “That is an attack on me. I don’t know how it has got on there.”
But the former Wimbledon FC player’s insistence that he did not post the photo has done little to stop criticism directed at him.
In an interview with Shooting UK less than two weeks ago, Jones said that “lamping” - hunting animals at night using spotlights - was his favourite type of hunting.
“I love pigeon shooting — building the hide, putting the decoys out,” the 52-year-old said. “It’s the same with rook and crow shooting. Lamping is probably my favourite.
“I’ve spent a lot of money on customising my Land Rover for lamping. If the farmer has a fox problem I love going out and dealing with it for him.”
Meanwhile, animal rights campaigners have said that the photo of the dead foxes shows “nothing less a massacre”.
Philippa King, chief operating officer for the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “The extermination of such a large number of foxes cannot be interpreted as simply dealing with a rogue fox problem or wildlife management.
“Although lamping may be legal, there is no doubt it is unethical and likely totally unjustified - as fox populations are self-regulating,” King continued.
“The joy expressed in the tweet highlights the true nature of this activity, which is wildlife for fun and has nothing to do with fox control.”
A spokesperson for the RSPCA said the organisation was “shocked and appalled at this callous waste of life”.
“Depending on the circumstances, sadly such actions are legal, but we would always advocate alternative measures - such as deterrents - be used to prevent this kind of killing of wildlife.”
Jones’ management has yet to respond to HuffPost UK’s requests for comment.