Round up

Overview

Hunts are falling into 3 general categories:

• those who have given up wildlife harrassment
  (the good?)
• those who hunt as normal but revert to trail hunting when we arrive
  (the bad)
• those that carry on regardless and try to prevent evidence being gathered
  (the very very ugly)

Some of what has been going on in our region

March 2008

South Dorset Hunt kept on the run.

February 2008

New Forest Foxhounds lose control of their hounds and chase foxes twice in one day. Due to our presence they called the hounds off in the first incident, and in the second incident, we realised that the only thing that was going to save the fox was our intervention. Sabs used sprays and covered the fox's scent. Video here

Cattistock Foxhounds hunted a fox right in front of us. The arrogance knows no limits. Obviously fearing the legal implications, the huntsman changed his red hunting jacket for a putrid green waterproof 1980s style "sports" jacket. Nice, charlie! (video grabs here) You should really give Trinny & Suzanna a ring. If you keep on ignoring the ban we will start using hunting horns again. Don't say we didn't warn you.

January 2008

On 5 January the New Forest Beagles were found chasing a hare. They pleaded with us to help call the hounds off if it happened again (video), and then started laying a trail.

The arrival of Police Hunt Liaison Officers when there has been suspicious activity - particularly in the New Forest - has been enough to tip the scales in our favour and make the hunts reconsider their actions and stay within the law.

Our covert monitors reported back that we should make another high profile appearance at the New Forest Foxhounds during January. Towards the end of the day a certain local duty solicitor starting dishing out threats. He apparently knows where people live. Footage will be submitted to the Legal Services Board and other professional bodies should there be any trouble as threatened.

December 2007

The Sandhurst & Aldershot Beagles started hunting at Wonston near Sutton Scotney before realising they were being filmed and promptly packed up.

The New Forest Beagles have been observed using beaters in front of the hounds - very suspicious.

November 2007

Hunt supporters throw rocks and bottles at monitors.The Cattistock huntsman and whipper-in - the key people who control the hounds and are most likely to be prosecuted - have ditched their red coats in favour of green. [pic here] Is this to make it more difficult to spot them? Is this because they have something to hide?
At their Opening Meet in prestigious Abbotsbury - the estate of former Master of the Hunt "The Honourable" Charlotte Townshend - a group of thugs presumably recruited by the hunt threw bottles and rocks at a monitor's vehicle. One even mounted the roof of a moving car to get a better shot. A case of dangerous driving by anyone's standards. [Pics here] Yet more laws being broken. The police will be getting a copy of the video and will hopefully pay the owner of White Peugeot with registration G123 AJT a visit.

Following a tip-off that they were up to no good, the New Forest Foxhounds were visited near Lyndhurst and were not pleased to see us. Having boasted "I know every copper in this Forest" we were not at all surprised that the local plod tried to prevent us from monitoring the hunt by impounding our vehicle. The hunt spent an hour waiting for them to get rid of us then got in a right strop when we stuck with them. One was overheard to say "Now they're here we'll have to follow a trail". By 3 o'clock they were packed up and we went for a well earned pint! We rewarded their behaviour with a follow-up visit at which they actually followed a trail. Remember, we have our spies.

17-24 November was International Week of Action Against Hunting. Read more here. Sat 17 November we were at the New Forest Foxhounds. and Thurs November 22 we paid a visit to the Cattistock Hunt. The Cattistock hounds were all over the place disrupting traffic. If they can't keep them off the roads, how can they keep them off the scent of a fox? The answer? They can't. However, in Dorset, the police appear to turn a blind eye.

September 2006

Cattistock Hunt (Dorset) were thought to have killed on a morning's cub hunting expedition. A limited number of activists had their access blocked by some well known thugs with what appeared to be the local ASBO/chav contingent in tow.

The South Dorset seemed to be in disarray when we attended a meet from their kennels. It was as if they had to change their plans at the last minute. This, coupled with the fact that one of their supporters attempted to run down activists in his 4 wheel drive ON A FOOTPATH leads us to think that our presence had an impact on their original plans. If they were going to be following a trail or exercising hounds, we wouldn't have made any difference, so we can only conclude they had planned to hunt illegally.

2005 round up can be read here