31st January 2007

Hounds rip pet cats to pieces
 
A SOUTH Armagh woman has described the horrific scene as her pet cats were ripped to pieces by a pack of hounds while huntsmen looked on.

Anne McKeown also accused up to 20 members of the Newry Harriers, accompanied by as many as 40 hounds, of trespassing on her six acres of land and damaging hedges and gates during their annual Ballymoyer Forest hunt.

Speaking to the Democrat, Ms McKeown said she was relieved her three young children, aged eight, nine and 13, were not at home as she fears they would have been killed or seriously injured if they had been attacked by the dogs. The horrifying incident occurred in the Ballymoyer townland at approximately 2pm on Wednesday, she explained

31st January 2007

No prosecution over fox death - RSPCA 

Nobody will face prosecution over the killing of a fox during a Royal shooting party, it emerged today.

The RSPCA launched an investigation after a photographer captured a fox apparently being beaten with a large stick and stamped on after being shot.

The animal had strayed into the middle of a pheasant shoot led by the Duke of Edinburgh.

An RSPCA spokeswoman said it had investigated whether the fox was caused unnecessary suffering and whether any legislation established to protect wildlife had been breached

30th January 2007

HUNT OFFICIAL IS FINED £80

A hunt steward has been fined £80 for using threatening behaviour towards two hunt monitors on Boxing Day.

Mervyn Dowell, a steward for Cotley Harriers, harassed and threatened League Against Cruel Sports monitor Graham Forsythe and Helen Weeks from Protect Our Wild Animals, as they attempted to video the Harriers near Yeovil.

30th January 2007

Charges in badger baiting inquiry

Police investigating alleged badger baiting in Northumberland have charged five men and a teenager.

Several houses in the Tyneside and Northumberland areas were raided following a joint initiative between Northumbria Police and the RSPCA.

The six people, from Cramlington and Wallsend, are charged with conspiracy to hunt wild mammals with dogs between February 2005 and March 2006

29th January 2007

HORROR AS ROYAL HUNT SAVAGES FOX

Riders 'watch' as hounds tear into animal in garden

PRINCE Charles's favourite hunt is facing a police probe after its hounds ripped apart a fox in a family's back garden. Homeowner Gwen Butler looked on in horror as the dogs savaged the cornered animal.

Hunt supporters who witnessed the killing apparently did nothing to prevent the sick spectacle

21st January 2007

Pest control — Sandringham style

This fox never stood a chance when it had a brush with the guns at Prince Philip’s shooting party yesterday, writes Maurice Chittenden.

First it was blasted by one of eight people taking part in the shoot on the Sandringham estate. Then, as it lay wounded, it raised itself to snarl at a gundog, so a gamekeeper beat it over the head with a flag used to signal to the beaters. Still not sure whether the fox was dead, the gamekeeper was spotted doing the unspeakable to the uneatable, appearing to stamp on it before dragging it into the undergrowth

20th January 2007

Over-limit Otis Ferry escapes being banned from driving

Pro-hunting campaigner Otis Ferry yesterday escaped a driving ban despite drinking at least seven shots of vodka during a student "trebles" evening.

The 24-year-old son of rock star Bryan Ferry was pulled over in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, shortly after leaving The Rock nightclub in the town on October 11, 2005.

Ferry of Eaton, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, was found to have 55mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg per 100ml

19th January 2007

Hare coursers handed ASBOs in crackdown

TWO hare coursers have been handed ASBOs to stop them practicing the illegal sport on farmland in Cambridgeshire.

George Lee, 24, and John Bruce, 39, both of Belvedere, Kent, were caught hare coursing on land near Littleport on Wednesday, December 27, by Cambridgeshire police Rural Community Action Team (RCAT).

The pair were spotted by a member of the public, and were arrested with help from the force's helicopter

17th January 2007

Police investigate hunt assault claim

A 60-YEAR-OLD hunt monitor said she was violently knocked to the ground by a supporter as she tried to film a hunt taking place in Oxfordshire.

Judy Gilbert, a hunt monitor for Protect Our Wild Animals - an anti-hunt organisation - was filming the Heythrop Hunt in Dean, near Chipping Norton, when she claims a supporter of the hunt attacked her. She said the man barged into her, causing her to fall down a slope into a patch of brambles.

Mrs Gilbert, of Watlington, suffered scratches and bruises and said she was distressed afterwards

12th January 2007

Dumped rotting gamebird carcases pose risk to human health

Gamebird carcases have been found rotting in a ditch in Beulah, South Wales, prompting Welsh Assembly member Peter Black to ask Carwyn Jones, minister for the countryside, what can be done about the risk to human health.

Black is concerned about the risk because as well as being illegal, the dumping of vast numbers of carcases is associated with diseases such as salmonella, sickness and diarrhoea.

10th January 2007

Dead fox 'tied and set on by dog'

A dead fox found with "horrendous injuries" in Kent may have had a dog set on it, the RSPCA has said.

The animal welfare charity said the animal was found with a snare around its neck, bald legs, and puncture wounds to its back legs

10th January 2007

OFFICERS SWOOP ON POACHING SUSPECTS

Eight people have been arrested on suspicion of poaching after a police raid near Dumbleton. Officers swooped on land in Great Washbourne early on Monday after reports of a group of men coursing - hunting for rabbits or hares with dogs.

Officers called Cheltenham Animal Shelter to rescue seven lurchers. Two were taken to the vet for treatment for leg infections. They were all later returned to their owners.

Tony Bell, general manager at the Animal Shelter, said: "When we got there, there were about 20 men.

"There were a number of 4x4s, two Land Rovers and a pick-up.

"The men use the lamps to startle the rabbits so the dogs can catch them.

"One of the dogs was emaciated but we aren't entitled to keep them from their owners."

9th January 2007

HUNT 'USED NATURE RESERVE'
 
Anti-hunt protesters in Somerset have called for the prosecutions of huntsmen who they allege illegally charged across a nature reserve with a pack of hounds.

Helen Weeks, of West Coker, near Yeovil, said members of the Cattistock Hunt
broke the law when they burst on to Hardington Moor nature reserve on December 30

9th January 2007

Killing fields

EIGHT foxes have been found beheaded in fields on the outskirts of Hartlepool.
The bodies of the animals were found by walkers in hedgerows near to Hart village.
All had been beheaded. None of the heads have been recovered and police fear a trophy hunting, animal killer is on the loose

1st January 2007

New law may stop hunts using birds of prey to pursue foxes

Bird owners are accused of cruelty

As huntsmen and women gather today for the Boxing Day meet, at least 42 of the 250 packs will be out in the field with a golden eagle or eagle owl, but animal welfare laws coming into force next year are likely to end the practice of using birds of prey to flush out foxes.

Almost two years after the ban on hunting with dogs in England and Wales, the new legislation is seen as the latest threat to the sport

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