Members
of BSV, Avon Vale and Cheshire Hunt due in court
Camilla unveils painting of convicted huntsman, John Holliday.
Mink and Otter Hunts sabbed
Action Against Staghunting prepares for battle
Happy 60th Birthday HSA!
Prosecutions
Steve Paul, terrier man for the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt, will appear in court on 20th June for spraying a sab in the face with an unknown liquid, possibly urine. He already has a caution for doing the same thing a month earlier.
Charlie Mayo, from the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt, is due in Bournemouth Crown Court 26th – 28th June 2023, for hitting a sab over the head with a whip handle. The injury required hospital treatment. Charlie Mayo is the son of the master of the BSV.
Ollie Finegan from the Cheshire Hunt, failed to appear in court on 13 June, to face two charges of hunting a mammal with dogs. The case has been adjourned till 26th July 2023.
The HSA reports that three men from the Avon Vale Hunt, who were shown digging out a fox for their hounds to chase, have now been charged with various offences concerning foxhunting and animal welfare. They will appear at Swindon magistrates court on the 5th of July.
The hunt master, Robert Gurney of the West Norfolk Fox Hounds, has now officially been charged with “a criminal offence or offences.”
The sab who suffered a bleed on the brain after an assault in February 2022 has had his appeal to the CPS refused. He has now to decide whether to take a private action.
Royal Mistake
On 2 June, Queen Camilla unveiled a painting of a convicted hunter with his pack of hounds in woodlands. It appears to all the world to be an endorsement of foxhunting and the hunters. Let’s hope this turns out to be a PR disaster for the royal family. It certainly deserves to be.The huntsman is John Holliday from the Belvoir Hunt. In 2019, this hunt had to pay out £48,500 in compensation to two monitors after an attack by hunt staff. One had a broken neck. Last year John Holliday was charged with illegal hunting and is due in court next month concerning hunting offences. For more on this story, click here:
https://www.actionagainstfoxhunting.org/camilla-and-the-convicts-canvas/
Action Against Staghunting (AAS)
Other than badgers (being culled mercilessly in the various cull zones around the country) and our otters and mink (the hunters are killing most weekends), the summer is a relatively peaceful time for wildlife, so AAS is using the time to be ready to challenge the stag hunts in the Autumn. We are planning to look at the law in some detail (we can’t believe that what the stag hunts are doing is legal) and mapping the area so we are certain we can catch the hunters if they try hunting on land where they are NOT WELCOME. We also hope to engage with tourists to make sure they all know about the brutality of stag hunting on Exmoor and the Quantocks. If you haven’t already, please complete this online survey and let the Tourist Board know whether stag hunting puts you off visiting the area. https://www.surveyhero.com/c/ijvw9utv
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HSA!
The HSA is 60 years old! In comparison, AAF is only five. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HSA!
SAB NEWS
The Northern Counties Mink Hounds were successfully sabbed on Saturday 3rd of June by various sab groups. As is common with Mink hunts, once the hunt has been discovered they have little choice but to give up and return to Kennels.
