Cattistock hunt hits back over League Against Cruel Sports claims (From Dorset Echo)
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Cattistock hunt hits back over League Against Cruel Sports claims
1:00pm Friday 18th November 2011 in News By Rachael Burnett
Image from the League Against Cruel Sports video
A HUNT has denied that fox numbers are deliberately being kept high so that the animals can be hunted illegally.
Hunters have defended themselves against allegations that artificial earths, structures designed for foxes to live in, are being maintained and food is being left for the animals.
The League Against Cruel Sports carried out a national investigation and, acting on information from a local source, one of their officers went to inspect a wood in Dorset.
The officer, who did not want to be named, said: “When I first found the earth all the plants were trampled down and I could smell the foxes.
“I also found a massive pile of offal that had been dumped nearby with clear car tracks leading off to the road.”
He set up a hidden video camera in the wood which captured footage of a man coming and dumping more offal and also showed a fox coming and feeding there.
While the practice of maintaining or setting up artificial earths is not illegal, dumping animal meat in this way would be an offence under the animal by-products regulations due to the high risk of spreading disease.
Animal rights activists believe that the only explanation for this behaviour is that foxes are still being illegally hunted.
Joe Duckworth, the league’s chief executive, said: “Our investigators have shown without a shadow of a doubt that there is a determined effort amongst the hunting community to keep fox numbers artificially high. “The evidence points at a pattern of extreme behaviour which I am convinced may be connected with other wildlife crimes such as hunting with dogs.”
The land in question, situated between Evershot and Cattistock, is owned by the Hon Charlotte Townshend, High Sheriff of Dorset, and one of the richest women in the country.
A spokesman for Ilchester Estates, which manages Mrs Townshend’s land and property in Dorset, said he did not wish to comment on the league’s allegations.
Mrs Townshend is also joint master of local hunting group, the Cattistock Foxhounds, who regularly hunt in these woods.
Will Bryer, master of hounds for the hunt, called the league’s accusations ‘barmy’.
He said: “We refute these allegations.
“They’re ridiculous.
“Artificial earths have been around since the beginning of time but we have no use for them now.
“If someone is putting food out for foxes, it’s not us.
“To me this is just a smear campaign.
“We get this every year at the start of the hunting season.”
Comments(6)
X Old Bill
says...
2:53pm Fri 18 Nov 11
What Office does he or she hold?
What is his or qualification to investigate such matters, and on private land?
What, if any, rules of evidence are followed?
Are there any means of corroboration of any evidence obtained?
Has the alleged offender been identified?
Has he been given the opportunity to explain his actions? - Under PACE guidance of course.
Is this a historic or recent site?
So many more questions, but no answers, only allegations.
.
Whether or not I agree with the concept of hunting with hounds, it is a fact that certain hunting is still permitted under the Act of Parliament which supposedly banned it.
The Schedule at the end of the Act gives those exceptions and if I were a Police Officer receiving a complaint of this nature I would expect to find, or be given, evidence that any hunting was outside the Schedule.
dave1998
says...
8:39am Sat 19 Nov 11
cj07589
says...
8:58am Tue 22 Nov 11
mark@greenhill
says...
1:41pm Tue 22 Nov 11
cj07589 wrote:Typical comment from the pro hunting people. Nobody has ever said you must not control foxes. Only the hunting brigade throw that line in to confuse the issue. Shooting is the cleanest way to keep the numbers down, but I appreciate that it probably isn't as much 'fun' as a big crowd of you charging around on horses?
Numpty nimbes go back to your cosy mansion houses in the city and keep your noses out of business that does not concern you. I have this year already lost several prized chickens and my cat was attacked recently and nearly died as a result of a fox attack which is directly attributed to the unchecked fox population.
If the hunting brigade, would only admit they do it for fun, I would give them a lot more credibility.
X Old Bill
says...
2:38pm Tue 22 Nov 11
You have a point - It is still legal to control foxes.
It is still legal to use hounds to draw and flush quarry from a covert.
The part which is not legal is to use the whole pack to pursue to fox.
A fox, once flushed into the open, must either be allowed to run free or humanely destroyed (shot).
From my own observation over the years it was apparent that a large proportion of the mounted field had absolutely no inkling of what was happening a good deal of the time - They were there for a good days riding over countryside where they not normally be allowed to ride freely. The only downside being that one was expected to sit at a point for ages when the Fieldmaster instructed.
The landowner wished foxes to be controlled and allowed the Hunt to ride over his fields because had he not done so then foxes may have taken refuge on that land, or so it was said.
Some may find it strange that 'foot followers' often knew more about what was happening throughout the day, even though they did not actively take part in the hunt.
So, yes I agree that hacking over various country is, or was, what most people found to be the most enjoyable experience, finding a fox was merely incidental and for the most part just an excuse.
NorfolkEnchants says...
2:01pm Fri 18 Nov 11