New Year's message for the hunters out there...revised!
(speakers need to be on for best effect)

29th December 2005

Police probe illegal hunting complaints

POLICE are investigating a complaint of illegal hunting by Waberthwaite based Black Combe Beagles.

Hunt monitors belonging to the Northwest Animal Welfare group claim that the Black Combe & District Beagles chased a fox for over an hour during a meet in Coniston on Tuesday, December 27. They allege that the hunt made no attempt to call off the beagles and that the 19 hunt followers were in a state of "wild excitement" throughout the chase

29th December 2005

SAW HUNT HOUNDS RIP A FOX TO PIECES
(But police have not been out to see me because 'it is not a top priority')
By Geoffrey Lakeman

AN animal lover yesterday told of her horror at seeing huntsmen let dogs tear apart a fox - in apparent open defiance of the law.

Paula McAlindon, 45, said of the bloodbath just yards from her parents' home: "The hounds literally ripped the fox to bits in seconds. It was barbaric."

But she is dismayed police have not even bothered to see her to probe the incident, with officers admitting that stopping illegal hunting is "not a top priority".

22nd December 2005

HUNT RIDES IN

Clive Phillips was stunned when huntsmen and a pack of hounds rode in to his housing estate. He called the police when four riders from the Cotswold Vale Farmers' Hunt appeared in Lincoln Avenue in Tewkesbury.

22nd December 2005

Kennel huntsman is found guilty of cruelty
22/12/05

A KENNEL huntsman responsible for more than 100 dogs has been found guilty of animal cruelty.

Philip Simmonds, who is in charge of the welfare of hunting dogs at The Kennels in Cambridge Road, Barton, denied six charges involving unnecessary suffering to three pack dogs in his care.

22nd December 2005

Animal cruelty is denied

A kennelman charged with cruelty to three dogs has told a court that his accusers are liars and that they reported him to the RSPCA in a bid to get him sacked.

Philip Simmonds, a kennel huntsman at The Kennels, in Cambridge Road, Barton, for the past three years, denies six charges involving causing unnecessary suffering to three pack dogs.

22nd December 2005

EXCLUSIVE: ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUP HORSE & HOUNDED

AN animal rights group has been bombarded with abusive mail from hunt supporters in a scam that has cost it thousands of pounds.

The League Against Cruel Sports was targeted after it launched an appeal for donations using a Freepost address

21st December 2005

Hunt dog carer accused of cruelty

A KENNEL huntsman in charge of more than 100 dogs is on trial accused of animal cruelty.

Philip Simmonds, who is responsible for the welfare of hunting dogs at The Kennels in Cambridge Road, Barton, is alleged to have stitched a gaping wound on a beagle's leg without giving the dog a local anaesthetic

20th December 2005

Man faces new fox hunting charge

A huntsman has been charged with breaking anti-hunt legislation a year after being cleared in a similar case.

Trevor Adams, Master of the Buccleuch Foxhounds, allegedly contravened the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002

20th December 2005

Huntsman denies flouting hunt ban

A huntsman has pleaded not guilty to breaking the hunting ban in Devon.

Tony Wright, from the Exmoor Kennels, Simonsbath, was summoned to court for allegedly defying the ban

FOX HUNTER NOW LEADS TORY PARTY

The Tory party got its new fox hunting leader today in the shape of Eton "educated" David Cameron.

Cameron who shouted down Labour Ministers and MPs during the hunting debates in the Commons, wrote in 2002 " Sitting in parliament involves hours of listening to opinions with which you profoundly disagree. I am usually able to do this without shouting, but as soon as I hear Labour members calling for hunting to be banned, I completely lose it.

Cameron is an active supporter of hunts in his Oxfordshire Constituency and rides with the Heythrop hunt. He would like nothing better than to get the hunt ban overturned so he and his chums can re-start their sadistic pastime of killing our wildlife for fun.

7th December 2005

ALLIANCE ORDERED TO DROP AD CLAIM

The Countryside Alliance has been told to drop a bogus claim that a shooting school raised £1million for charity, after the Advertising Standards Authority ruled against it. The ASA found the Alliance had breached two parts of the advertisers' code - that it hadn't substantiated a claim and wasn't truthful either - in a shock ruling.

2nd December 2005

Rescue drama after hounds fall over cliff

POLICE and fire crews were called to a farm at Roseland between Liskeard and Trerulefoot on Wednesday afternoon to rescue straying foxhounds which had plunged over a cliff. Police officers and firefighters from Bodmin and Liskeard were joined by Caradon District Council¹s animal welfare team as the rescue mission got under way.

27th November 2005

Cops probe hunt video

ONE of Wales' oldest hunts has been quizzed by police after an animal welfare charity accused them of breaking the ban.

Dyfed Powys Police officers have spoken to members of the South Pembrokeshire Hunt after being reported by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

24th November 2005

FOX HUNTER ARRESTED FOR ROBBERY OF HUNT MONITOR

The kennel huntsman of the Avon Vale Foxhounds in Wiltshire was arrested on
Monday 21st November 2005 following an incident where hunt monitors were
attacked and robbed of their video equipment

20th November 2005

Latest lies from the Countryside Alliance regarding hunt saboteurs
Saboteurs blamed for hunt attack

Hunt saboteurs have been blamed by pro-hunt campaigners for an arson attack on a kennels in which horses and dozens of hounds were let out.

The intruders also set fire to rubbish in a wheelie bin and fencing.

The attack was in the early hours of Sunday morning at the Essex and Suffolk Hunt at Layham near Hadleigh, Suffolk.

The 82 hounds and five horses set loose were all later recovered after staff discovered the break-in and called police and the fire service.

17th November 2005

HUNT-SABOTEUR CASE DROPPED

The leader of one of the West's most active group of hunt saboteurs has had charges against him dropped. Police have kicked out an allegation that Aubrey Burge harassed the master of the Avonvale hunt in Wiltshire because of insufficient evidence

16th November 2005

NO CHARGES FOR QUANTOCK HUNT

Police have revealed they are not going to prosecute over an allegation of illegal hunting in the West that activists at the time dubbed "the best evidence yet" of a breach of the ban anywhere in the country. League Against Cruel Sport activists have been told by Devon and Cornwall Police that it will not be acting on evidence submitted in March concerning the activities of the Quantock Staghounds

16th November 2005

Tell us if the law is being broken

HUNT Watch monitors are to target hunts that use birds of prey as the start of the traditional foxhunt season begins.

Defra has clearly stated that hunts using the falconry loophole are hunting illegally but has said it¹s for the courts to decide. However, before the courts can take action the police must become involved

15th November 2005

NO MORE SHOOTING FOR ME - MADONNA

She's seen off bad-boy actors, the nation's harshest film critics and generations of young pop pretenders - but now Madonna has admitted that even she was no match for the sight of a dying pheasant. The Queen of Pop has revealed that she has given up game bird shooting after witnessing the dying moments of a bird she blasted out of the sky on her Wiltshire estate.

10th November 2005

Three men accused of wildlife cruelty

POLICE and animal cruelty inspectors have swooped on the homes of three gamekeepers in the Borders who now face court accused of breaching wildlife laws.

5th November 2005

PC FOXES THE HUNTERS

A West hunt's attempts to get around the hunting ban by using a falcon have ended after police intervened, it emerged last night.

The news came on the day hunts throughout the West - many employing birds of prey - will ride out for their traditional opening meet of the season.
But the Western Daily Press can reveal the police officer charged with enforcing the ban in one county told a hunt its attempts to get around the new law with a falcon would not work.

4th November 2005

Hawk and hounds help foxhunters defy the law

Amid the glasses of port, the red coats and the hounds, the only sign that anything has changed in the world of foxhunting is the arrival of a red-tailed hawk.

With hounds no longer meant to be killing foxes, birds can do so quite freely, and hunts such as the Fernie in Leicestershire are getting around the law by taking a bird along with them.
The red-tailed hawk joins the Fernie Hunt in Rutland.

3rd November 2005

Driving out the coursers

30th October 2005

Police probe hunt monitor assault

Police in Devon have confirmed that a criminal investigation is under way after a hunt monitor alleged he was assaulted by a hunt supporter.

Kevin Hill, 55, says he was attacked while he observed the hunt for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

22nd October 2005

'DRINK-DRIVE' OTIS
Bryan Ferry son on booze charge
By Richard Smith

HUNT protester Otis Ferry will appear in court next month on a drink-driving charge.

19th October 2005

Hunt master beat three protesters

An attack on anti-hunt protesters has cost a hunt master more than £1,500 in compensation, fines and costs.

Simon Upton, 40, of Margaretting, Essex, felled one demonstrator by riding at him and hit another twice on the head, Basildon magistrates heard.

17th October 2005

HUNT MASTER TO PLEAD GUILTY TO ATTACK ON HUNT SABOTEURS

On 18th October 2005, Simon Upton, Master of the Essex Foxhounds will be appearing at Basildon Magistrates Court in relation to an alleged attack on hunt saboteurs on 9th February at Kelvedon Hatch near Brentwood.

8th October 2005

Government warns hunts over use of birds of prey to flout ban

Government advisers have warned that using birds of prey for falconry is unlikely to provide legal cover for hunts to resume what would amount to traditional chases. The warning comes after scores of hunts have bought golden eagles, eagle owls and other birds of prey in an attempt to take advantage of the fact that falconry remains legal.

6th October 2005

New Hunting Act secures first conviction

Merseyside Police has secured the UK's first-ever conviction for offences under the Hunting Act 2004.

In the early hours of 5 June 2005, PCs Boyd Francis and Sean Kelly arrested 19-year-old Adam Pengilley of Adlam Road, Liverpool as he was leaving the Leverhulme Estate in Lydiate, Merseyside. Pengilley was in possession of two lurchers and lamping* equipment

5th October 2005

Saboteur 'was hit by hunt master'

A Derbyshire hunt master was caught on video striking a saboteur with his riding crop, a court has heard.

24th September 2005

CRIMINAL GANGS STAGING CRUEL, ILLEGAL BLOODSPORTS

Criminal gangs are mounting night-time raids in the countryside to stage and bet on cruel and illegal bloodsports.

Offenders hurtle across farmers' fields in stolen vehicles and use headlights or powerful searchlights to find and herd wild deer.

They then unleash packs of vicious dogs that chase the animals across the fields, often to their deaths, while putting bets on the outcomes.

17th September 2005

PROTESTORS ATTACKED AT ILLEGAL FOX HUNTS
17 September 2005.

Anti-hunt protestors claim that in incidents at two hunts this morning (Saturday 17 September), police ignored fox hunts flouting the Hunting Ban as they carried out cub hunting activities. In both incidents protestors were attacked.

Hunt master charged with assault
BY RODDY ASHWORTH

A HUNT master has been charged with a string of offences ­ including the assault of a police officer ­ after trouble flared at a meet earlier this year.

Douglas Hill, 62, joint master of the Essex and Farmers Union Hunt, also faces two further charges of assault, a charge of criminal damage and two public order offences. He will appear at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court this morning.

29th July 2005

Hunt campaign loses court battle

Pro-hunt groups claimed the ban breached human rights

Pro-hunt campaigners have lost their second High Court challenge to laws banning hunting with dogs.

22nd July 2005

NEW RULES TO HALT HUNTING

Fury as Minister says chasing deer with two hounds is illegal

A new battle was looming over hunting last night after animal welfare minister Ben Brad shaw ruled it was illegal to pursue deer with two hounds a practice thought by thought by stag hunters to be lawful under the recently intro duced legislation

1st July 2005

UK police forces will record wildlife crime incidents from 1 April 2005

From 1 April 2005 all UK police forces will record wildlife crime incidents, as part of a one-year pilot scheme.

We are telling you now to stress one very important point. It has been made quite clear to us that this is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the extent of wildlife crime in the UK.

Please will you therefore report ALL wildlife incidents to the police and REQUEST AN INCIDENT NUMBER.

If incidents fail to be reported to the police, forces can use the lack of reports to justify failing to commit resources. Not all forces will start the scheme on the 1st of April, but all are committed to introducing it over the next year. Please can you therefore let us know the status of your force when you find out.

Pro hunt newspapers get it wrong

After a number of newspaper reports stating the police weren’t going to act on evidence from so called ‘vigilante’ animal rights groups and ‘self appointed’ hunt monitors, Hunt Watch decided to write to the Chief Constable of Suffolk police.

It really was quite hard to believe the police were saying they weren’t going to follow up allegations of law breaking by the hunting fraternity. (See Hunt Watch Site 21st March 2005 - POLICE WARN HUNTING 'VIGILANTE' GROUPS)

This is a reply we received from Alistair McWhirter, Chief Constable of Suffolk police. Once again pro hunters caught lying Click here

13th June 2005

Police face anti-hunt complaints

Anti-hunt campaigners have complained the hunting ban is not being properly enforced, according to police documents obtained by the BBC.

The documents from Devon and Cornwall Police, were obtained via the Freedom of Information Act

It's too risky to halt hunts, say police chiefs

Police have been told not to foil illegal fox hunts when the hunting season begins because of health and safety regulations.

Guidance drawn up by police chiefs instructs officers to take the most cautious approach when investigating reports of illegal hunts for fear that they might injure themselves. They have been told not to go near hounds or horses and not to confiscate dead animals as evidence in case of injury or infection.

Officers are also told to carry out risk assessments before embarking on an investigation; to ask farmers for permission to go on their land; and not to use police helicopters in case they "cause alarm to horses".

Lost `lampers' admit poaching charge

THREE men charged with poaching just hours after the hunting ban came into effect in February have appeared before Chippenham magistrates.

They were not charged under the new legislation that made hunting with hounds illegal - but they were found with four dogs, a gun and two dead animals.

Defence solicitor, Clive Rees said last Thursday the poachers thought they still had seven days before the ban was passed when they were caught on February 19, a day after it became a law on February 18

Walkers in fear of hunt

On Saturday, March 26 my husband I and our German Shepherd went to Notgrove, near Bourton On The Water, and were trying to find Guiting Power Woods.

We missed the parking in Guiting Power but spotted a sign that said Wardens Way which looked ideal - a bridleway with lovely views.

We saw a person with a red jacket riding a horse. Then a quad bike with two riders came down the bridleway, looked at us and went after the horsewoman.

I was speaking on my mobile to my daughter when two Land Rovers came speeding down the bridleway and forced us to leap out of the way. Each had at least two men inside, who glared at us. We were terrified and turned back to towards our car (I was still on the phone.)

Then we were blocked in by two quad bikes, again with two people on each.

Later, we saw horses and riders, plus the pack of foxhounds, coming back up the bridleway and I realised we could have been mistaken for hunt monitors.

I contacted the Cirencester Police, who passed it on to Stow on the Wold police.

They said they couldn't do anything about it, which I can understand as I didn't have a registration of the vehicles.

So, a word of warning if you're visiting such a lovely part of the countryside. It could have been children or elderly people on that track - vehicles with engines aren't supposed to go along there. We certainly won't be going back there in a hurry.

J Cutting
Grange Park,
Swindon

28th March 2005

Hunt Watch press release

Hunting season draws to a close and the hunt ban is working.

Hunt Watch has been made aware that the Countryside Alliance have taken part in more than 1,000 days of hunting, and approximately 800 foxes have been killed since the ban came into force.

Obviously we would have been delighted if NO foxes were killed at all, but this number actually proves that the hunting ban is working extremely well.

POLICE WARN HUNTING 'VIGILANTE' GROUPS

Police chiefs sought to distance themselves from the row over the hunting ban yesterday when they warned they would not act on evidence collected by "vigilante" animal rights groups.

In a letter to hunt supporters Alastair McWhirter, of the Association of Chief Police Officers, made it clear that police were not interested in following up allegations of illegal hunting activity made by self-appointed hunt monitors

20th March 2005

Gang sought over fox hunt assault

A gang who punched and kicked a hunt saboteur in the head at a meeting of the East Kent Hunt last month are being sought by police.

The assault happened towards the end of the hunt at Crundale, near Ashford, on 19 February at about 1425 GMT.

The anti-hunt campaigner was treated in hospital for multiple bruising and a suspected broken rib.

14th March 2005

Hunt master arrested at meet

A HUNT master was arrested along with a saboteur after trouble flared at a meeting in Essex.
Douglas Hill, 62, joint master of the Essex Farmers and Union Hunt, was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm following an incident at the meet at Runsell Green, near Danbury, on Saturday.

A 23-year-old anti-hunt supporter was also questioned on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm, although police stressed the two arrests related to separate allegations.

10th March 2005

Out with the anti-hunt monitors

Hunting may have been banned last month but there are still plenty of people who are determined not to let the issue drop.

The pro-hunting fraternity is still trying to have the ban overturned, as well as to continue hunting within the new law, and those opposed to the activity are remaining as vigilant as ever.

HUNT PROTESTER FINDS ALL HIS CAR TYRES FLAT

A Dorchester father, who actively campaigns against blood sports, says his family is living in fear after being targeted by drunken pro-hunters. Carpenter Neil Buckoke, aged 38, woke for work on Monday morning to find the four brand-new tyres on his car were flat.

24th Feb 2005

Bad Blood

PRO-HUNT supporters left the mutilated corpse of a fox on the doorstep of West Lancashire MP Colin Pickthall.

Mr Pickthall was confronted with the grim discovery at his home on Sunday morning. A note was tied around the neck of the dead fox warning: "Not over till the last horn blows".

24th Feb 2005

Hunt breakaway group'reckless and dangerous'

POLICE have launched an appeal to hunt down 14 mounted supporters who broke away from the Percy Hunt's procession on Saturday and wreaked havoc through Alnwick town centre.

More than 500 members and supporters of the Percy Hunt gathered at the Pastures to show their solidarity and determination to continue their sport despite the enactment of the hunting ban.

23rd Feb 2005

Hare coursers banned from driving

Six men caught hare-coursing illegally on farmland in West Norfolk were all banned from driving and fined a total of £4000 yesterday .
The group, aged 17 to 31 and all from outside the region, appeared at King's Lynn magistrates and admitted one charge each of trespassing in pursuit of game at Terrington Marsh, near Lynn, on November 17.

22nd Feb 2005

Dead fox 'fed to dogs in public'

Hunting with dogs became illegal at midnight on Thursday

Claims that a dead fox was fed to hounds in front of the public, on the first day after hunting with dogs was banned, are being investigated.

Sussex Police said it was also claimed a hunt monitor's vehicle was forced off a road at the Crawley and Horsham hunt.

Four Held Under New Hunting Laws
By Simon Evans, PA

Four men were arrested today under the new hunting legislation, police said.

The men were found at 4am between Hullavington and Sherston, Wiltshire, with four dogs and the carcass of a hare, police spokesman Dave Taylor said.

The men, aged 31, 32 and 33 from south Wales and a 53-year-old from Ireland were arrested on suspicion of hunting with dogs under Section 1 of the new Hunting Act, which came into force yesterday, he said.

Crawley and Horsham continue to hunt foxes despite ban

It has been reported today that the Crawley and Horsham foxhunt were killing foxes today 36 hours after the hunting ban came in to force.

Witnesses saw the hunt encouraging hounds in woods around Shipley, West Sussex and the hounds going into cry (hunting a scent). It is alleged that hunt campaigners were saying don’t worry about the law, we will be hunting as normal'.

A fox was also thrown to the pack of hounds and it is thought there were several other fox carcasses in boxes on the terrierman's vehicle. Quite why a legal foxhunt still has terriermen acting for them is something we think the police should be looking into.

One person has been physically attacked and monitors observing the hunt have been subjected to death threats. Their van has been rammed several times by hunt supporters in a 4x4 vehicle.

Monitors received threaten and intimidate though out the day from private security guard employed by the hunt.

Local anti-hunt campaigners are calling on national groups to get involved and take action against the Crawley and Horsham hunt when it appears the local police are prepared to do nothing to uphold public safety and the law.

2007

2006 l 2005

Top