Newsbyte 22
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- Cub hunting started
- Multiple stags hunted and killed
- Cheshire huntsman finally caught and convicted
- Staffordshire Hunt receives Community Protection Warning
- Hunt sacks off court appearance and displays at Agricultural Show instead
- Mink hunt sabbed
- Shoots sabbed
- No one shows up for hound exercise in Kent (except sabs)
- Dorset Huntsman convicted of racial abuse
- Dorset Hunter banned from attending hunts
- Northumberland terrier man convicted of assault and battery
- Chair of Moorland Association ejected from National Wildlife Crime Unit working group
- Trail hunting demonstrations (by the hunts) planned for 14th Sept struggle for venues
- Fox hunters want protected status as ethnic minority
Top Stories
Cub hunting – It has begun. North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs report that the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt took their hounds out on the evening of 21st August.
Stags – On Monday 5th Aug the Quantock Staghounds killed a stag, but not before they had hunted it until it collapsed from exhaustion. Stags were also hunted and killed on 6th August, 10th August and 17th August.
Finnegan conviction – On Thursday 15th August, Ollie Finnegan of the Cheshire Hounds Hunt was found guilty of illegal hunting. He received a £120 fine, £300 prosecution costs, and £48 Court costs. Finnegan has been evading justice for more than a year, by leaving the country. Cheshire Against Blood Sports (CABS) kept pursuing Mr Finnigan, until he was finally found and brought to justice. The Cheshire Hounds will be at Arley Hall on Saturday, September 14th to demonstrate trail hunting. Ollie Finnegan’s defence against the accusation of foxhunting was that he was trail hunting, but he was convicted of fox hunting anyway.
Community Protection Warning – Staffordshire Hunt Sabs report that Staffordshire Police have issued the Albrighton and Woodland Hunt with a Community Protection Warning. It was issued because of their bad behaviour which included: trespass, lack of hound control, killing of a muntjac deer, and the killing of a fox. They have caused damage to property as well as harassment, alarm, and distress to residents and landowners. The CPW specifies that the hunt must not take hounds to areas where foxes are likely to be.
Court No Show – On Wednesday 14th August, the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt made an appearance at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show. They won second prize. However, they should have been in court to answer charges of illegal hunting. The case was listed for the same day.
Sab action
Mink – On Sunday 11th August, Nottingham, Lincoln, and Staffordshire Hunt Sabs, successfully sabbed the Dove Valley Otter and Mink Hunt.
Hunt Fund Raiser – The Northants Hunt Sabs and Locals Against the Cottesmore Hunt were busy again on Saturday 4th Aug, informing customers of the Fun Ride where the money was really going, and that they were, in some cases, inadvertently supporting fox hunting.
Shooting Game – Sabs were out in force on the 12th of August to help protect the moors. A Sheffield Hunt Sab driver was arrested, but then the police, who did not know what they had arrested him for, lost confidence and de-arrested him.
No support for hunt – On Wednesday 14th August, the West Kent Hunt Sabs were pleased to find that the Kent Hounds had absolutely no support for the first publicised hound exercise of the season.
court, Police and prosecutions
Convicted – Weymouth Animal Rights report that on 24/7/24 Josh Tierney, huntsman with the South Dorset Hunt, was found guilty of causing racially/religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm, or distress following a homophobic and xenophobic incident against a sab.
Convicted – On Monday 19th August, at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court, a terrier man with the Tynedale Hunt pleaded guilty to assault with battery.The terrier man was fined £1500, and, because the Hunt was not normally inclined to ill-disciplined behaviour, the two ladies, who had given evidence, did not support a restraining order being placed on the accused. The masked terrier man grabbed a bottle of citronella from a monitor and sprayed it in her face. He was falsely accusing her of spraying the hounds with it, and said, “What is it – acid?”
Behaviour Order – Weymouth Animal Rights report that at Poole Magistrates’ Court an existing Criminal Behaviour Order has been amended to prevent Shane Cooper from attending any location where a hunt is taking place whether preplanned, informal or organised. Nor is he allowed to attend a hunt, loiter or associate with any person linked with any hunt (at the time of such activity).
Not Guilty Plea – Neil Burton of the Burton Hunt appeared in Lincoln’s Magistrates’ Court on 1st Aug. He entered a plea of ‘not guilty’. The trial date is now set for 25 Oct 24.
A public protocol – Warwickshire Rural Crime team have published guidance for “lawful hunt and lawful protest activities”. It is meant for the Warwickshire Hunt, after the scandal surrounding the “Secret Protocol” from last season. Amongst other things, it specifies that the hunts must not “block or cause disruption on the highway”.
Thrown out – Andrew Gilruth, CEO of the The Moorland Association (grouse moor owners’ lobby group in England) has been removed from the National Wildlife Crime Unit’s ‘partnership’ designed to tackle illegal raptor persecution in England and Wales (the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group – RPPDG). Mr Gilruth published a misleading article stating that the Moorland Association itself had been removed. But it was just Mr Gilruth himself. He was removed for reasons other than stated in his article. AAF has sent a FOI to the NWCU to find out what really happened.
This also caught our eye
Short on Venues – The BHSA are planning trail hunting demonstrations on Saturday 14th September explaining trail hunting to the public. Using the vocabulary taken from their own leaked webinar that they held two – three years ago tutoring hunts on how to bamboozle the police, it has been dubbed as “Smokescreen Saturday”. Along with the other hunts taking part is Warwickshire Hunt who are currently on charges for illegal hunting. South Shropshire Hunt is also hosting a demonstration and their host, Daniel Cherriman, is a convicted huntsman. However, they appear to be struggling to find venues.
Hunt Privilege – National and international journalists have found the foxhunters bid to be considered an ethnic minority and have special protection under the law extraordinary. The founder of AAF was interviewed on television opposite Ed Swales, chair of Hunting Kind. Hunting Kind are calling themselves “fox hunters” and not “trail hunters”. In an item on the same subject on Good Morning Britain, Chantelle Lunt, activist and founder of BLM alliance said, “Hunting Kind’s ‘minority belief’ campaign falsely equates the privileged elite’s outrage at being told they can no longer hunt and kill innocent animals with the genuine struggles faced by minority communities.” With the help of AAF, the New York Times have published an article on the subject.
Campaigns and things to do (now)
The cubs don’t know what’s coming, but we do. Tell the public. Not everyone is on Social Media.
Quick Order Cub Hunting Leaflets – https://www.actionagainstfoxhunting.org/quick-order-cubhunting-leaflets-and-stickers/
Brian May is on BBC2 on Friday 23rd August at 9 pm. His programme is about badgers and the cull.
Chris Packham is the voice behind a video calling for action against hunting. It is a short video, and well worth watching.
AAF Outreach
Outreach is our business. We need to talk to people outside of Social Media. Standing in the street, talking to people about foxhunting is easier than you might think. Please contact Alyson Rogers, Outreach Advisor a.rogers@actionagainstfoxhunting.org and she will help you to everything you need.
