28th July 2018
Are Hunters Spreading More Than #TrailHuntLies In Cheshire & Beyond?
Are badgers really to blame for spreading bTB or is there another, much more dangerous, source? Photo courtesy of Cheshire Monitors
Cheshire Monitors write about hunting and it’s role in the spread of diseases, especially bovine tuberculosis (bTB):
The 2017/18 hunting season in Cheshire was interesting , to say the least. Yes, a number of Cheshire foxes sadly lost their lives to criminal interests but in many other ways it could not have gone better for us. We oversaw leaps forward in many areas as the nets were closing in on Cheshire’s three foxhunts….
- In response to Mike Amesbury MPs enquiries, Cheshire Police & Crime Commissioner announced a review of how foxhunting is policed in the county, as reported here by the Cheshire Chronicle.
- Cheshire’s Conservative MPs are abandoning their traditional support for foxhunting, mirroring the national stance of their party.
- Foxhunts are losing their land. Estates have recently revoked permission for access to their land in Cheshire.
Cheshire landowners would be wise to note this trend and get ahead of it by stopping hunts from entering their properties, especially those who have a stake in keeping disease at bay. Foxhounds have been recorded with bTB in a number of places, most notably within the Kimblewick Hunt where a large number of dogs were culled after picking up the disease in December 2016, and in Ireland where post-mortem results revealed bTB in foxhounds.
Biosecurity and foxhounds do not go well together. One report says they are at risk of a wide range of parasites and diseases including bTB when breaking up fox carcasses. Yes, foxes do carry bTB; just look at this research from France. Yes, foxhounds do break up foxes that they’ve caught; look at what Andrew German allowed to happen on Boxing Day 2017.
Conversely, the badger cull has found a very low rate of confirmed bTB in badgers across the country (a mere 4.87%) after testing 861 badger carcasses that were culled in High Risk Areas. A recent Freedom Of Information request to Nottingham University* pointed out that the tests can’t distinguish between ‘infected’ or ‘infectious’. It’d be charitable to describe the badger cull as a farce, and an expensive one at that (£831,093 in policing costs in Cheshire alone) …. and don’t the three Cheshire foxhunts employ people specifically to tamper with badger setts**? Not very biosecure, is it?
Foxhunters know about their role in the spread of bTB but hide it, as evidenced by the absolute stonewall at DEFRA that was erected after the Kimblewick Foxhounds outbreak. Did you know that the DEFRA Minister for Animal Welfare is a member of the Kimblewick and a former Master of one of the hunts which amalgamated to form the Kimblewick?
Foxhunters have known about the risk that hunting with hounds poses in the spread of bTB for decades. Just have a read of this quote from ‘To Hunt A Fox’ (1937) by foxhunter David Brock, page 187;
“There is in this country a great move on foot for the establishment of more and more Tuberculin Tested herds. To establish such a herd is an expensive and troublesome affair and, once he has established it, the farmer is not going to risk incurring infection from outside. It is at present believed that this infection can be carried on the boots of human beings and the feet of animals. What more likely than that it will be carried from an infected farm to a pure one by horses and hounds?”
We’ll leave these thoughts with you. If you’re a landowner in Cheshire (or anywhere) who wants to stop hunting on your land then please contact Hounds Off for specialist help, support and advice.
* Hat-tip to Cheshire Wounded Badger Patrol for this
** No, they are not there to mend fences
© Cheshire Monitors
28th February 2017
Calling Residents Of Penningtons Lane, Macclesfield & Surrounding Area
Huntsman gathers hounds from private gardens on Penningtons Lane, Macclesfield, Cheshire 25.02.17
You may have read seen the news from last Saturday of hunters and a pack of hounds chasing a fox from open countryside into the edge of town, trashing property and gardens, then cornering the exhausted creature and biting it to death in a private back garden with the shocked residents terrified, upset and powerless to do anything? If not, read it here or watch it here.
I’m glad there were no Saboteurs or Monitors out with the Cheshire Forest Hunt on Saturday 25th February because you can be certain that, had there been, they would have been blamed for the pandemonium caused by the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable. As it is, the hunters cannot shift responsibility for hunting a terrified fox which sought sanctuary in the gardens and patios of a residential street on the edge of Macclesfield. Even before that fox was caught and killed the shocking reality of foxhunting was laid bare. Well done to everyone who has spoken up and not swept this outrageous animal abuse under the carpet.
Incidents like this have happened before and experience suggests will happen again. We will have to wait and see if Cheshire Police have the appetite to meaningfully investigate Saturdays events but whatever happens there is positive, practical action which every resident of Penningtons Lane can take to stop hunting in the future and it is this: make your farm, field or garden a hunt-free zone by following the simple Hounds Off formulas here.
DO ‘HOUNDS OFF’ IN CHESHIRE
Hounds Off exists precisely to support and advise anyone who wants to protect their property from hunt trespass. This website is a resource so please use it. Employ the Cost & Hassle Free Option for Warning Off your local hunt, or the Belt & Braces Approach if you want to be doubly sure. If anything at any stage is unclear then contact the Hounds Off team direct and we will help - that’s what we do.
If you live on or around Penningtons Lane, Macclesfield, Cheshire (or know someone who does) please forward this blog to them and encourage them to warn the Cheshire Forest Hunt off their property.
DO ‘HOUNDS OFF’ ANYWHERE
In fact, wherever you are you can do this. There are at least 200 hunts in the UK and we suspect most of them to be engaged in illegal activity. We know that if you want to keep hounds off our wildlife, Hounds Off really works.
© Joe Hashman
11th January 2017
The £5 Money Shot - Making Evidence Of Illegal Hunting Count
Cheshire Forest Huntsman being questioned by police, 2nd January 2017. Photo credit: Cheshire Monitors
Did you hear about the bang-to-rights evidence of illegal hunting which the police and/or CPS weren’t interested in? Apparently it happens all the time…
It’s beyond doubt that there’s an institutional disinterest in Hunting Act cases and the authorities seek any excuse not to proceed with matters. In court, experience shows Defence teams seizing any opportunity to subvert evidence or witnesses against them. If you want your evidence to withstand close and vindictive scrutiny you need The Money Shot and, for fox sake, make it a £5er;
£1; The fox (hare, deer or mink) fleeing….
With no quarry in the frame, the Defense will argue that there is no chasing of a live animal. Establish the identity of the quarry species with your camera. You’ll need much more than film of fleeing quarry to get the offenders into court but without this you have nothing.
£2; …being chased by a pack of hounds….
A kill is not essential for an offence to be committed under the Hunting Act (2004). Chasing with dogs is illegal. Once evidence of the quarry has been secured, pan back to the hounds to show what they’re doing and how many are involved.
£3; …in view of the Huntsman or Whipper-In….
These days hounds are often allowed to range way ahead of the Huntsman. If quarry is found and chased then those responsible can claim to either not know or that it was an “accident”. Evidence which shows somebody in charge of the hounds was well able to view events makes it harder to cry “accident”.
£4; …who is not trying to stop them….
Film the behaviour of anyone at the scene including body gestures (such as pointing) and any use of horn and voice. “Accident” is far less plausible if hunt staff can be shown to have done nothing to stop the hounds. If hunt staff are filmed actively encouraging the chase (such as by cheering hounds on or doubling the horn), or by taking and acting upon information communicated to them by others then even better. This will show an intent to break the law which is hard to deny.
£5; …for a considerable time or distance.
It’s not possible to state what constitutes “considerable” but obviously the longer the chase goes on with nothing being done to stop it, the stronger the evidence of illegal hunting being an intentional thing.
Identification
When filming either Huntsman or Whipper-In take the earliest opportunity to zoom in as close as possible because identification is absolutely essential for proving who did what. Hunting Act cases will fail due to weak ident even if the actual illegal hunting is obvious. These days hunt staff often wear anonymous matching jackets and ride horses with similar colouring and features; tactics which conspire to make evidence gathering even more difficult. The smallest detail could be a clincher so be alert to capturing on film anything, anything, which could help with positive identification.
Other things: keep cameras running as long as possible; use GPS readings to verify time, date, location; don’t commentate or remonstrate whilst filming (bite your tongue if you have to - let your film do the talking); guard good evidence with your life until instructed otherwise by a professional person you trust.
The £5 Money Shot is intended to provide helpful guidance for property owners and individuals involved with law enforcement. It’s one of many wider conversations around the Hunting Act (2004). If further debate and discussion about evidence gathering of illegal hunting is prompted then good. If anyone finds it useful, applies it in the field and succeeds in court then even better!
Recommended further research:
The Hunting Act, a website for enforcement professionals
Trail Of Lies Report by IFAW and explanation of the false alibi of ‘trail hunting’
© Joe Hashman
Founder, Hounds Off
20th February 2016
Working Together To Keep Hounds Off
This landowner was helped by Hunt Monitors to keep the Cheshire Forest hounds off her property on 20 February 2016.
If you’re affected by hunt trespass and contact Hounds Off for support we can often put you in touch with people who will help you on the ground. For example, one landowner in Cheshire has established a great relationship with local Hunt Monitors. When the Hunt is around they get together to keep the hounds off her land. It’s a great example of how we all work as a team.
This is the message we received from the landowner after a hunt on Saturday 20 February 2016:
Hi it’s been a wet and soggy day following the Cheshire forest hunt round, the Cheshire monitors were absolutely great and I’m pretty sure it was a no kill day, they will confirm that though, they did stop them getting 2 foxes.
On their Facebook page, Cheshire Monitors reported the day like this:
We were out with the Cheshire Forest Hunt today, supporting some lovely locals who have had problems with this hunt in the past.
We caught them up to no good not long after they set off from the meet (which they weren’t happy about) and had to work hard to keep on top of them all day.
As usual there were more hunt thugs out with them than riders, it looks like this hunt are going down in popularity.
We had 7 quads with masked heavies careering about causing havoc.
At one point one of our team was filming the hounds in full cry, then marking where a fox had gone to ground. Their car was blocked in by supporters and their wing mirror kicked in by riders ( the police are dealing with this) who were clearly very upset that we were spoiling their fun.
This didn’t deter our monitor and suffice to say that eventually the huntsman called the hounds off. He did however leave the scene screaming his head off. There were no signs of a kill all day. Job done!
Remember, you are not alone! You can protect your property, livestock and pets from hunt trespass. Get hold of Hounds Off via Facebook, Twitter @HoundsOff or via the Contact Us page on this website.
© Joe Hashman
