News Round-Up (15th April 2021)
A number of hunts have successfully slipped out from allegations of illegal hunting
The Citro previously reported on how Thames Valley Police “filed” its case against the Kimblewick Hunt due to lack of evidence. The decision, made public on 15th March, concerned independent footage of the hunt chasing a fox through an industrial estate. And three days later, on 18th March, a court found two staff from the Lamerton Hunt not guilty of illegally chasing a fox. Devon County Hunt Sabs, which submitted the evidence, posted a lengthy summation of the trial that criticised the presiding judge’s actions for the verdict.
On 30th March, North Wales Hunt Saboteurs said North Wales Rural Crime Team "allowed the 6 months time limit to elapse on a Hunting Act case against the Flint and Denbigh Hunt”. The group’s post reveals that there is confusion as to who exactly dropped the ball on the case. But the sab group points its finger at Rural Crime Team manager Rob Taylor.
Meanwhile, on 6th April, West Yorks Hunt Sabs said that “police and CPS [Crown Prosecution Service]” had dropped a case against the York and Ainsty South and Badsworth and Bramham Moor Hunt. However, an update by Manchester Hunt Saboteurs later the same day said that the case didn’t even reach the CPS:
One group had some success on the court front, though. Mendip Hunt Sabs reported that a supporter of the Mendip Farmers Hunt was prosecuted on 2nd April for threatening behaviour. The post included scenes worthy of a sitcom, including one particularly barefaced denial:
Another ridiculous lie was that him calling us “c*nts” was actually him saying “please go away”... The lawyer didn’t stand for that and played the video multiple times before he did agree that the he did in fact call us c*nts.
Nigel Paul Williams was given a 12-month conditional discharge, and ordered to pay £300 in court charges and a £21 victim surcharge.
Sticky situation
Glue traps have made waves in the news. On 15th March, ITV News reported on a glue trap snaring a buzzard. The incident happened in central Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, with photos showing an exhausted buzzard on the pavement after detaching himself from the trap after “almost” dying. Fortunately, the bird flew off without need for medical intervention.
Just two days later, news emerged that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) banned glue traps for catching birds in France. Though a traditional method of catching birds in France, which has facilitated an exemption for the method since its otherwise EU-wide ban in 1979, the ECJ explicitly stated that:
The fact that a method of capture of birds, such as the method of hunting using limes, is traditional is not, in itself, sufficient to establish that another satisfactory solution cannot be used instead.
Glue traps are legal in the UK for catching rodents. However, following the ECJ ruling, the Telegraph said on 8th April that the government is considering a complete UK ban on such devices. There is also a live petition calling for illegalising the sale and use of glue traps. At the time of publishing it has nearly 36,000 signatures.
Separately, the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission published its report into glue traps on 23rd March. It concluded that there is “no way that glue traps can be used without causing animal suffering” of both target and non-target species.
“Biggest shake-up in 500 years"
The government isn’t only considering a ban on glue traps. On 17th March, the Telegraph also reported on government plans to introduce a closed season on hare shooting. The Citro covered this news and what it means for hares in an interview with the Hare Preservation Trust.
Meanwhile, on 23rd March, the Daily Mail said Westminster is planning the “biggest shake-up in 500 years for game shooting” with plans to ban lead shot. Lead shot has been a hugely contentious issue in recent years, with The Citro covering the problems of a promised voluntary phase-out in our March 2021 news round-up. Bird expert Mark Avery was critical of the plans, posting on his blog that it’s taken too long to reach even this promise of action.
In Scotland, the Greens have vowed to “end fox hunting for good”. The party recognises that the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 only banned hunting in name, and that hunting “continues much as it did” before the law’s introduction. The party’s MSP Alison Johnstone said the party plans to “close [the] loopholes and end all hunting with dogs for good.” Scottish sab groups approached the latest announcement tentatively, with Glasgow Hunt Sabs saying “fingers crossed for party politics actually doing something useful”.
Shooting themselves in the foot
One of the biggest stories to have hit the news during the past month concerns the Quorn Hunt. On 29th March, ITV News revealed to the mainstream that the hunt suspended two of its masters “after riding out with hounds” on 18th March, during the national lockdown. A leaked video, filmed during this meet, shows hunt staff looking on as hounds mark an earth or sett.
The news appeared to originally have hit the public on pro-hunt Facebook page This is Hunting UK. One post on 25th March shared a statement by the Hunting Office saying “one Master has been suspended pending a conclusion to the inquiry”. A second post by the chairman of the Cottesmore Hunt eagerly denied responsibility after the location was revealed as within that hunt’s country.
The news was big enough to hit the BBC and even Guardian, which rarely covers hunting stories.
However, this isn’t the only leak to have caused a commotion. Hunting Leaks, which has published internal documents from the hunting world since the start of 2021, has made some fascinating revelations. The most notable of these has been the underwriting of insurance for hunt court cases by multinational insurance firm AXA. The Citro recently covered the story in greater depth.
On 21st March, Hunting Leaks also published a tranche of minutes for the Sandhurst and Aldershot Beagles. Amongst these, the May 2019 contained a stomach-turning detail: that the hunt had recently “lost two dog hounds due to fighting”.
And on 31st March, it published a 2019/20 season report by the Sinnington Hunt on laws around hunting. It appears to contain many allusions to illegal hunting including listing the Hunting Act as an “opponent” on par with sabs and police. Manchester Hunt Sabs said the document showed the Sinnington Hunt admitting hunts have “learned how to switch between laying trails and hunting live quarry”. And West Yorkshire Hunt Sabs highlighted that the Sinnington Hunt boast about only “paying lip service” to trail hunting.
Meat cleaver
Although the national lockdown has lifted and hunting can technically resume, perhaps because of outrage over the Quorn Hunt incident, there have only been a handful of reports of meets occurring. Anti-hunt groups have nonetheless been active.
On 15th March, the League Against Cruel Sports launched a sustained campaign against fundraising website Jumblebee. A number of hunts have used Jumblebee to fundraise, with the League estimating more than £200,000 raised via the website. Jumblebee deactivated its Twitter account the follow day and by 27th March appeared to have removed all traces of previous hunting fundraisers from its website.
On 24th March, Beds & Bucks Hunt Sabs said it’d “found and challenged” shooters at Letchworth Golf Course intending to kill foxes. The group was joined by East Herts Sabs. Following the incident, the golf course issued a statement saying the shooters were there to kill rabbits for “feed at a wild cat sanctuary”. However, it would no longer invite shooters onto its land.
On 3rd April, several groups including Derby Hunt Saboteurs, Manchester Hunt Sabs and Derbyshire Against Blood Sports held a demonstration outside the Barlow Hunt kennels. They were protesting the Challenge Smeekly fundraising event. Among the placards and fox costumes, the protesters also organised for a plane to fly over carrying a banner reading “the Barlow Hunt kill foxes”:
Pro-hunt page Hunting For Truth uploaded a video from the event claiming that sabs “attacked” a child. However, the video doesn’t show an attack.
The following day, on Good Friday 4th April, Mendip Hunt Sabs caught a group of eight people including master of the Mendip Farmers Hunt George Pullen carrying guns and spades. The sab group said it believes they were “out killing moles”. And on 8th April, members of West Yorkshire Hunt Sabs were confronted by a man with a meat cleaver. The sab group was on a public footpath while kennel sitting the Northern Counties Mink Hunt at the time, though the man involved was wearing a Zetland Hunt shirt.
Wolves and whales
In global news, the Daily Mail reported on 22nd March that courts in Poland jailed a mayor after he shot and decapitated a bison then tried selling their head. And on 26th March, Canadian website Focus On Victoria said that infamous trophy hunter Jacine Jadresko “may have wiped out” a pack of wolves in Sooke, Vancouver Island, that locals said presented no problems co-existing with humans. Jadresko later denied the claim. And the Maltese bird hunting season began on 10th April despite legal challenges by anti-hunting group BirdLife Malta. As War On Wildlife previously reported, Malta’s hunting seasons are rife with illegal killing.
And finally, a study paper published on 17th March by the Royal Society concluded that sperm whales in the Pacific Ocean “rapidly” learned to avoid human hunters during the 19th Century. According to ABC News, the study showed that defensive tactics shared by whale pods led to “an unusual instance of rapid and large-scale cultural change outside humans”.
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Main image via
West Yorkshire Hunt Sabs