police, Court and prosecutions
Michael Speed, terrierman with the Cheshire Hounds, has been charged with an offence, probably to do with driving his quad at a sab.
Cheshire Monitors report that Chris Woodward, formerly with the Wynnstay Hunt and now with the Heythrop Hunt, is going to court in October charged with illegal hunting. He already has a criminal record associated with assault and filling in badger setts.
Marcus Boundy, Thomas Lyle and Mark Pearson, from the Portman Hunt, are due in Weymouth Magistrates Court on 31st October to answer charges of hunting a wild mammal with a dog.
Warwickshire Police’s protocol with the Warwickshire Hunt is to remain secret. AAF Midlands and West Midlands Hunt Sabs have teamed up to challenge this clearly corrupt decision in every possible way. It is exempt from any FOI (Freedom of Information) request.
Cirencester Illegal Hunt Watch report that the Gloucestershire Police are taking no action against the Cotswold Hunt terriermen who were videoed with a bagged fox contained within an artificial earth last March 23. The police say they are not able to prove who placed the fox into the bag in the artificial earth.
For a trespass to be aggravated, the trespasser must be going onto the land in order to disrupt a legal activity. On Wed 27/09/23, a Scottish sab was found not guilty of aggravated trespass. PC Alan Patterson had charged the sab. Selkirk Court decided the sab evidence was valid and the hunt had not been engaged in a legal activity, and hence the Sab did not commit the offence.
sab successes
Many sab groups are indicating successful sabbing of cub hunts. Once sabs turn up it can be quite difficult to appear to be acting legally, so they frequently pack up and return to kennels.
Northants Hunt Sabs, along with Hertfordshire Hunt Sabs and the Peterborough Hunt Sabs, have sabbed the Cottesmore hunt five times in a week. The Hunt is certainly feeling the pressure. A sab was punched to the floor, and another had camera equipment damaged. The sabs are not cowed and the Cottesmore Hunt is losing support.
On Saturday 30th, eight sab groups attended the Devon and Somerset Staghounds meet. The large turnout was in response to an attack on Sabs a few weeks ago.
West Kent Hunt Sabs have found a new and effective way of sabbing hunts. On 22 September, a sab on a motorbike managed to outwit and out manoeuvre the Kent Hounds, keeping pace with, and not losing sight of, their hound van.
national trust
East Surrey Hunt Sabs report that, this year, the Chiddingfold, Leconfield and Cowdray Hunt opening meet will NOT take place at National Trust Petworth House in Sussex. We believe that public pressure has led to this decision, though we don’t know if the decision was made by the National Trust or the Hunt. The NT is already under pressure after a stag was filmed being hunted on their land in Somerset.
Fox Rescue
Suffolk and Essex Hunt Sabs, with assistance from Reading Hunt Sabs, helped rescue a fox who had been hit by a car. The fox was taken to South Essex Wildlife Hospital for care.
campaigning news – and calls to action
Anti-Social Behaviour Campaign
The Hunting Act is weak, but the Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 is not. It is both “flexible” and “wide-ranging”. We all see the hunts behaving in a selfish and often dangerous way – but how can we stop them?
REPORT REPORT REPORT – EVEN IF THE BEHAVIOUR ITSELF ISN’T ILLEGAL.
Help is available on our website:
Road Chaos
Anti-social behaviour
Boxing Day
It is time to start or renew those local campaigns. We can help. Let us know what you want to do, and we’ll help you:
BOXING DAY HELP
hunt atrocities
Cheshire Forest Hunt were out with their hounds on Saturday, and stayed within the law on hunting. However, it hasn’t stopped local people from being concerned about the safety of their cats and dogs as the pack of hounds were exercised past their front doors. The notorious Cornish case of Mini the cat being savaged to death by a pack out exercising has done nothing to allay people’s fears.
Channel 4 News exposed stag hunting for the cruel activity it actually is. We saw footage of a hound collapsing after being “gored by a stag” (according to the hunt). We believe it collapsed and died from heat exhaustion. The hunt did not go to its aid, or call a vet. The hunt was also hunting illegally on National Trust land. The hunting took place on an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Importance) .
The Holcombe Hunt misjudged their local support. They killed a cub last Wednesday and failed to dispose of all of the evidence. People local to that hunt are becoming more vociferous.
Following on from last week’s report that the Albrighton and Woodlands Hunt had killed a muntjac deer, this week the Essex and Suffolk Hunt are also recorded killing a deer. (Video evidence available on Suffolk Action for Wildlife Facebook page.)
North Dorset Hunt Sabs and Weymouth Animal Rights (WAR) are continuing to sab the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale (BSV) Hunt. That Hunt seems to be split between different factions where one faction is encouraging ever greater violence. On the 26th September, a BSV Huntsman summoned hired thugs, and a female Sab was attacked, knocked to the ground several times, and much equipment stolen. The police did eventually arrive. Fortunately, a sab had had the foresight to change his SD card in his camera. The police now have some evidence of the violence and the theft. This incident is also well reported on the WAR Facebook page.
The Sinnington Hunt has been filmed dumping animal carcasses into a wood to encourage foxes to live and feed there. This clearly shows that hunts need foxes to chase, as opposed to “coming across them by accident” while out trail hunting.
thank you to all the sab and monitor groups whose posts we have used to create Latest News. If we have got anything wrong, just let us know and we’ll change it.
info@actionagainstfoxhunting.org
