24th February 2009

Out-of-control hunting dogs rip pet cat apart

AN ELDERLY couple watched in horror as a pack of hunting dogs killed their 18-year-old pet cat, writes Eimear Ni Bhraonain. The husband and wife, aged 90 and 77, were terrorised by a pack of out-of-control dogs who ran into their home outside of Moynalty in Co Meath.

Hoppy, who was a treasured three-legged family pet, couldn't escape the hounds and was savaged in the front garden

20th February 2009

A HUNTSMAN for the Duke of Northumberland has been charged with illegal hunting.

Robert McCarthy, 34, of the Kennels, Cannongate, Alnwick, is alleged to have breached the Hunting Act of 2004 in an incident on Wednesday, November 12, 2008, at Bradford Kaims, near Belford.

He is due to appear at South East Northumberland Magistrates Court on Tuesday, March 3.

Read more about McCarthy here

19th February 2009

Pet owner horrified as hunt dogs rip cat apart

AN AGEING pet cat has been ripped apart in her own garden by hunting dogs which had strayed from the main pack. And now the cat's owner is calling for the Western Hunt to make sure its pack is properly trained and under control.

About 12 dogs had broken off from the rest of the Western Hunt meeting at Sennen last week and rampaged through the Crean Bottoms area before four or five of the dogs chased after and caught Molly, a 15-year-old cat belonging to Amanda Richardson. She saw and heard the dogs roaming round her garden and actually witnessed the moment when Molly was ripped apart

18th February 2009

Hunts hit back at thug claims

Hunts use thuggery to intimidate anti-hunt monitors and prevent them getting evidence of illegal hunting.

That was the claim made by Somerset monitors as the League Against Cruel Sports stepped up its campaign and marked the fourth anniversary of the ban on hunting with dogs

Videos can be viewed here

18th February 2009

Apology after hounds run through garden

Hunt officials today apologised after foxhounds ran through a private garden in an East Yorkshire village.

The angry property owners at Ottringham also complained that the Holderness Hunt was chasing a fox.

Police were alerted and a hunt official apologised to them and the owners of the property on the edge of the village, near Withernsea.

12th February 2009

Three men convicted of hunting with dogs

THREE men have been found guilty of hunting with dogs after being caught in a field near Basingstoke. In the first conviction for the offence in Hampshire, John Cole, 65, John Giles, 21, and Frederick Stevens, 42, were convicted at Basingstoke Magistrates Court and fined.

In an unusual step, the magistrates also ordered the men to give up their lurcher dogs, in an attempt to prevent them re-offending. The offence occurred on Monday, April 26, last year when a member of the public reported seeing a group of men using dogs to hunt and catch a hare on private land off Huish Lane, between Old Basing and Tunworth

5th February 2009

Burnley man caught interfering with badger sett

EAGLE-eyed villagers in Cliviger helped to snare a member of a gang caught digging out a badget sett, a court heard.

Police were alerted after Steve Broadbent and two friends saw three men trying to interfere with the badger's home last August, Reedley magistrates were told.

The gang fled and left behind a terrier dog - which was later knocked down by a train and killed, the court heard

5th February 2009

Victory claimed by both sides after hunting ruling

It set the countryside against the city, Tory against Labour, Commons against Lords, royalty against commoner and neighbour against neighbour.

It brought demonstrators dressed in Barbour jackets en masse with their Range Rovers into London to confront unrepentant, urban-based MPs who "did not understand" the importance of hunting.

Yesterday, five years after the divisive Bill was forced through Parliament, huntsman were finally rejoicing: the Hunting Act 2004 was "fatally weakened" and would, they claim, have to be repealed

4th February 2009

Seven arrested over hare coursing

Seven men have been arrested on suspicion of trespass and hunting act offences after Hertfordshire police received reports of hare coursing. Landowners called police on Tuesday claiming to have seen a group hare coursing in fields in the village of Hunsdon, near Ware.

Hertfordshire Police said three 4x4 vehicles and the police helicopter were sent to the area to investigate. Five Essex men and one each from Kent and London have been released on bail

3rd February 2009

Horse 'missile' used to hit hunt monitor

A HUNTSMAN used his horse as a "missile" to repeatedly barge a woman off her feet while she was filming his activities, a court heard.

Whipper-in Christopher Marles is accused of a "sustained and continuous" attack on 61-year-old Helen Weeks during a meet of the East Devon Hunt last March

3rd February 2009

Arrests follow clampdown on wildlife killers

Police have dealt a blow to gangs who were terrorising Oxfordshire farmers by ramming cars into rabbits and deer for kicks. Up to a dozen people have been arrested for offences related to trespass, criminal damage and the illegal killing of animals following the largest Thames Valley Police operation against rural crime of its kind.

Helicopters, dogs and officers from across the county were involved in the three-month crackdown against groups of men who drove into remote parts of the county at night for the fun of killing wild animals

2nd February 2009

Anger after hunt dogs run amok

THE League Against Cruel Sports has criticised the Avon Vale Hunt after hounds ran onto a farm near Trowbridge and frightened a horse causing it to injure itself.

The 56-year-old owner of the two-and-a half-year-old horse called Billy said she was 'shocked and outraged' after it tried to escape from hounds by scaling a fence, badly injuring itself in the process. The pack then continued to cause chaos when they entered a nearby cat rescue centre

1st February 2009

Huntsman and farmer join new shadow cabinet

DAVID CAMERON's appointment of a "true countryman" to the new shadow cabinet is the strongest sign yet of the Conservative Party's commitment to rural issues.

Nick Herbert, the new shadow environment secretary, was a former political director of the British Field Sports Society (BFSS) and founding member of the Countryside Movement — now the Countryside Alliance (CA).

CA political director John Gardiner described Mr Herbert's appointment as "wonderful for our community".

Mr Herbert was master and huntsman of the Newmarket Beagles for 14 seasons. Before that he was master and huntsman of the Trinity Foot Beagles and whipped-in to the Essex Foxhounds