Latest News 18th Feb 2023
4.23
Investigations & prosecutions
On Wed 8th Feb, ITV released footage of the Avon Vale Hunt (AVH) digging out two foxes and releasing them in front of hounds. (This is the same hunt that attacked a sab last March causing a bleed on the brain.) On Friday, three members of the hunt were arrested. Yesterday, Tuesday 14/02/23, a further two people (a man and a woman) both aged 25, were arrested and subsequently released pending further investigation.
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Myles O’Connor of the Scottish Buccleuch Hunt was due in court on 14/02/23 due to illegal hunting. We all hope the hunt will not survive the change in Scottish law.
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Cottesmore huntsman, Sam Jones, was videoed jumping a gateway and landing on a sab. He has now been arrested by Leicestershire Police. (The shocking video can be seen on the Hertfordshire Hunt Sabs Facebook page as well as the BBC news website.)
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Georgina Price of the Royal Artillery Hunt has accepted a police caution for having used her horse in an attempt to ride down two Sabs. This is the hunt that uses MOD land on Salisbury Plain and the one that Ben Wallace MP supports. The offence occurred on 05/11/22. Surrey Hunt Sabs Facebook page carries the video.
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A hunt supporter from the Beaufort Hunt was fined by Gloucester Police for “disorder” on 21st November 2022. He drove erratically and threatened a sab. Police concluded the investigation and informed sabs on 14th Feb 2023.
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Police
Warwickshire Police who issued the Warwickshire Hunt with a Public Control Notice (PCN), pulled over another of the hunt’s quads again this week. The landowning rider of the quad had two terrier dogs with him.
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Chief Superintendent Matt Longman of the Devon and Cornwall Police Force is the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for hunting. In an article in The Times on 13th Feb, he publicly praised Wiltshire Hunt Sabs for the work they’ve been doing and for helping to deal with the Avon Vale Hunt and its dig out of foxes to be released to hounds. Chief Superintendent Longman wants: “police forces to work with the “volunteers” who monitor hunts so they [the volunteers] could learn how to provide the kind of evidence, such as unedited and time-stamped footage, that could lead to successful prosecutions.” Mr Longman also revealed there had been a sea change in the way that police understand hunting across England and Wales, (particularly as a result of the successful prosecution of Mark Hankinson). We also learned that ”Two police forces in England and Wales are now treating hunts operating in their areas as Organised Crime Groups.“ The change is due, in part to a number of high-ranking police officers having the courage to challenge the general police ethos – that hunts tell the truth and animal welfare volunteers are just trouble makers.
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Cast your mind back to Lacock on Boxing Day 2021. Laura Hughes, a serving Wiltshire Police Officer and member of the Avon Vale Hunt, was one of three officers who failed to keep the peace at the demonstration. Officer Hughes made things a great deal worse by yelling in the face of protesters and, later on, Wiltshire Police denied that her presence was inflammatory. Are Wiltshire Police planning on rethinking that conclusion, now we all know that AVH have been caught hunting illegally?
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Nottinghamshire Hunt Sabs have a special comment in their report from 02/02/23 on their sab of the Burton Hunt. “Special mention to the truly (expletive deleted) useless pair from Lincolnshire Police who timed their arrival perfectly to miss all the illegal hunting and still give sabs a hard time.” There is a lot of bitterness towards the police this year. Is this because some forces are changing their attitude towards illegal hunting and sab groups feel that all forces should be changing?
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Hunts are finding that not all police can be relied on to dance to the hunt’s tune. East Herts Hunt Sabs report that the Puckeridge Hunt called the police because they were being followed from the kennels and were claiming harassment. When the police arrived, the sabs pointed out that the brake lights on the hound trailer were not working and the numberplate on the trailer did not match the towing vehicle. The police ignored the harassment complaint, but advised the driver of the hound van that he was not legal to continue. A little later, hounds from this hunt were seen chasing a fox across Barkway Golf Course. The huntsman was nowhere in sight, so sabs tried to round them up in case they were hit by a golf ball.
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South Coast Hunt Sabs report that the Sussex Police delayed them while they did a vehicle check. Since sab vehicles are regularly targeted by the police the vehicles are always completely above board. If police were also seen to check hunt vehicles, this would not be such a bone of contention – but it is rare for any sab group to report this happening.
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After a generally held view that the Cheshire police were improving, last Saturday a kennel watcher was delayed by a Police Sergeant at the entrance to the Cheshire Forest Hunt kennels and when questioned about the timing of his tactics, he did not deny that it was intended to let the hunt out. As the public are becoming more aware of the criminality of hunts particularly in the last few weeks, it might be advisable for the police to make sure they have a consistent policy that is defendable. Appearing to help criminality is unacceptable.
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Hunt behaviour
The Hunting Office (HO) now renamed the British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) is thought to have been in possession of the AVH footage for several weeks and it is reported that the event occurred on 20/12/22. The BHSA advised hunts not to take terriers out this weekend. This advice was widely ignored by hunts. The BHSA, in a desire to appear authoritative and in control dismissed the AVH from their organisation. They feigned shock at the appalling conduct of the hunt but have taken no action against Mr Ollie Finnegan who has very recently pleaded guilty to illegal foxhunting and is now with the Cheshire Hounds.
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Last week we heard about the demise of the Fife Fox Hounds. This week we can report that there is an advertisement inviting a professional or amateur to apply for the role of Huntsman to the Fife Bloodhounds. It looks as though Fife is to get a new bloodhound pack.
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Rumour Control has it that the Meynell and South Staffs Hunt will fold at the end of this season. It has yet to be confirmed.
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The Essex Farmers Hunt, tried to use speed to get away from the North London Sabs. The sabs described it saying, “it was more like sabotaging a steeple chase!” This hunt was minus its terrier men – were they (unlike many other hunts) actually doing what their governing body advised and not engaging in terrier work?
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Bristol Hunt Sabs report that the Berkeley Hunt hunted through a deer park on Saturday 11th Feb, where all dogs are supposed to be on leads.
At the end of the hunting day on 1st Feb, the Huntsman from the Weston and Banwell Hunt reversed his hound trailer into the sab vehicle damaging the bumper. He refused to provide insurance details and the dash cam footage has been forwarded to the police.
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Glasgow Hunt Sabs had tyres slashed while out with the Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Foxhounds on the 11/02/23. They had already seen death of a hunted fox. Levels of violence are expected to increase in Scotland for the last few weeks of this season, as the change in the law might well finish off some of the Scottish hunts. Since police often say they are not there to stop hunting but to make sure there is no breach of the peace, we hope the Scottish Police are sufficiently on the ball to recognise that violence perpetrated towards sabs is likely to be at an all-time high. It is thought their huntsman, Fraser Campbell is going down to Cheshire for next season.
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On 1st February, Three Counties Hunt Sabs report on the Worcestershire Hunt tells us that a sab ”was held up looking after a disabled gentleman at the church who said he had been assaulted by the terriermen, who had punched him to the floor and stolen his walking stick. Our sab called West Mercia Police and paramedics, and he was taken to hospital with a really swollen face to be checked over from potential fractures to his neck, eye socket, cheek, jaw, and probably other parts of his body.”
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On 7th Feb, hounds from the Four Burrows Hunt fell down a disused mine shaft near Porkellis, Cornwall, whilst the hunt was out hunting foxes in the area. It’s believed three hounds fell in, but sabs noted that the hunt (who continued their activities despite the accident) had far fewer hounds than usual, so they suspected the number of hounds in the mine was greater than they made out. The hounds were all rescued overnight.
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On 4th February, The Bicester Hunt invaded an alpaca farm and terrified pregnant females. The owner was furious and expected an apology from the hunt. But as none was forthcoming, he phoned the hunt master and interrupted his dinner to ask what exactly he and his hounds were playing at trespassing on his land.
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Public Outrage
Is the hunts’ grip on the countryside is slipping? Last Monday (13th) the sabs in Cheshire encountered a farmer who was so angry with the Cheshire Hunt that he seized his shotgun and discharged two shots into the air to warn the hunt and hounds to get off his land. This was in addition to a number of furious sheep farmers, a horse-owner trying to ensure the pack didn’t encroach on their farm and another farmer who was quietly helpful. The Countryside Alliance claims to represent all rural people. However, it only represents those who are pro-foxhunting. It does not represent rural people who object to fox hunting, and these people are in the majority, as indicated by AAF’s Rural Survey from 2022.
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Mike Hill
This week saw the 32nd anniversary of the death of Mike Hill. He died under the back wheels of a trailer driven by a hunt member who was careering wildly down the road trying to throw the sabs out of the trailer. The police weren’t interested and the driver is still engaged in hunting activities.
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Chief Vet is a hunter
Liz Gorse is the Chief Vet for the British Hounds Sports Association and she hunts with the Cheshire Forest. In 2020 her son was convicted and was “banned from caring, breeding and farming animals for the next 10 years“. 8 Cows, 3 calves and 2 sheep were found dead and decomposing on the farm. Liz Gorse the owner of the farm.
actually, People don’t hate foxes
Students from the Royal Agricultural University seriously misjudged the opinion of the majority when they thought it would be a good idea to strap a dead fox to the roof of their car for a charity rally. Like those who fox hunt, they believe that foxes deserve to be treated cruelly and justify it by calling them “pests”. However, the delusional students failed to anticipate the public backlash. They are now waiting for disciplinary action by the University.
Campaigns
AAF have launched two new “Catch them at it and Report it” campaigns – Hound Faeces and Road Chaos. In public areas, hunts should pick up after their hounds, but generally, they don’t bother. This includes grass verges on country lanes. If they do not – and they are reported – they should be fined.
Also, hunts cannot take risks with their own safety or the safety of others on roads. Again, report them. All information you need can be found on these links:
Hunt Road Chaos Link
Hound Faeces Link
https://www.actionagainstfoxhunting.org/hounds-and-faeces-reporting-breaches-to-the-council/
Landowners
Do you know of a landowner who allows hunting on their land? If the prosecution of the land-owning Drewetts is successful, all landowners should think twice before allowing the hunt on their land. Download this letter, print it and send it to the landowners.
https://www.actionagainstfoxhunting.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Letter-to-Landowner-Oct-22.pdf
Latest News 18th February 2023
