HISTORY
Although the struggle to ban hunting in earnest has been with us for over
a century the campaign to achieve a ban, with a real possibility of success,
began in the last twenty-five years.
Previous attempts to legislate against hunting failed despite being driven
with the same passion as they are today. In 1891 the
Humanitarian
League (HL) was formed by
Henry Salt and
Ernest
Bell. At that time there were twenty
carted
deer hunts in the country. Salt and Bell decided to target one hunt with
the view to closing it down. Coincidentally, Queen Victoria was apparently
against stag hunting. Although a carted deer
hunt
disbanded it failed to have the desired domino effect on other such hunts.
So the campaign to ban hunting evolved to embrace the hunting of other animals
too.
Around this time hunters organised themselves to form a group to defend
bloodsports.
Thus the political struggle started in parliament. Tactics employed then
were similar to those used in modern times, including ploys such as
talking out a Bill with the intention of killing it off.
The Humanitarian League was disbanded in 1919 and the struggle to ban hunting
re-emerged with the League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports, later to
become The League Against
Cruel Sports (LACS). Ernest Bell of the former HL launched the new
organisation with the help of Henry Amos.
In 1931 the League decided on different tactics with the first
picket of a stag hunt. This consisted of a group of those opposed
to hunting who protested at Cloutsham on Exmoor. The protest ended when their
banners were torn from their hands and destroyed. The police then escorted
the protestors away to their coach while hunt followers applauded. As the
coach drove away it, was pelted with mud and flanked by riders
who continued the intimidation.
Hunters, observing their sport could be in danger, decided to form their
own organisation to preserve hunting. The purchasing of land that included
the all important hunting or sporting rights began early in the
mid 1920's. Thousands of acres of land are controlled in this way. Supporters
of stag hunting were involved in the formation of the companies to maintain
hunting for the future because, even then, this barbarous recreation was
under serious public pressure.
As time passed other anti-hunt figures emerged to carry on the battle against
stag hunting. One such person was
Edward Hemingway. Hemingway was a local journalist who
methodically started to observe the West Country hunts. He was so effective
that he became a target for the Exmoor hunters who, on one occasion, dragged
him from a hotel in Minehead and threw him into the harbour. He clambered
out only to be thrown in again!
Throughout the last century there was a succession of anti-hunt campaigners
willing to push for a ban on hunting. They had little hope of being successful
but did not sway from the set course. The eventual ban was in no small way
due to their courage and enthusiasm in those early years.
Basic technology arrived in the form of still cameras that highlighted the
plight of the hunted animal, particularly stag hunting. These pictures started
to reach the press and so arguably
monitoring
in its infancy began. The
Hunt
Saboteurs Association (HSA) was formed in the early 1960's. Many of their
early campaigns were in the West Country. The radical, ground-breaking and
positive contribution made by the HSA to ongoing campaigns against bloodsports
cannot be underestimated.
During the early 1990's the tool that eventually was to bring the full horror
of hunting into the living rooms of the country was the camcorder. They were
cumbersome VHS cameras that perched on the shoulder in those early days but
later miniaturised into hand held video-camcorders. These cameras are with
out doubt the tool that turned the tide against hunting and led directly
to the ban we now have. During the period from the late 1980's to the 2004
Hunting Act video film was instrumental in getting temporary bans of hunts
and permanent bans on government land. Finally the video camera helped secure
the hunting ban itself.
Sustained pressure from monitors and the Bateson report on Deer Hunting
(for the
National Trust) secured the demise of the
New
Forest Buck Hounds in 1997. This was followed by the removal of the licence
to dig foxes or block badger sets and earths on Forestry and other Government
land, the latter after the Labour Party was elected to government. Lightweight
video cameras coupled with experienced monitors, some able to be extremely
mobile, gathered the footage that made the difference. Likewise in the West
Country, where film gathered in the River Barle of a stag being blasted by
a shotgun on numerous occasions led to a five week ban for the stag hunt
involved. Interestingly, it was observed that regularly monitored hunts became
more mindful of having witness to their actions. This had the extra effect
of saving animals' lives on many occasions.
|
Pre-ban, 'The Barle Stag', blasted many times in the river.
Image © KPH /
IFAW |
With pressure mounting for a ban the video evidence became an almost weekly
event on our screens. This evidence was submitted to the
Burns
Inquiry and later to the Alun Michael Hearings held in London and was
instrumental in securing the subsequent ban on hunting.
Terrier men were often filmed engaging in activities at the sites of
artificial
fox earths . One such terrier man who was filmed regularly leaving
offal type material near artificial earths and was investigated
by the local Trading Standards office. Later still another terrier man was
filmed entering cubs into an artificial earth in the East Midlands. He was
later censured for this practice and temporarily banned from terrier work.
Again in the East Midlands an earth stopper was filmed
hard-stopping a badger set for which he was convicted in the
court under the
Badger
Act.
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Pre-ban, terrier man at artificial earths. Image
©
IFAW |
Interestingly it also became clear the hunts that would be monitored regularly
were mindful of the presence of monitors. This had the extra effect of saving
animals lives on many occasions.
HUNTING WITH HOUNDS AFTER THE BAN
The Hunting
Ban came into force in February 2005.
Although the spirit of
the Hunting Act 2004 is clear to understand it soon became
apparent the hunts were going to explore ways of using exemption clauses
in the law to continue their activities to this day.
Ministry of Justice figures show that in
2010
there were 36 convictions under the Hunting Act (2004). The total number
of successful prosecutions under this Act now stands at over 180.
Lorraine Platt, the Co-Founder of
Conservatives
Against Fox Hunting, said, "The latest prosecution figures are very
encouraging and show that the legislation introduced over six years ago needs
to remain in place to protect wild animals."
The pro-bloodsports Countryside Alliance is campaigning to get the Hunting
Act repealed. But Lorraine goes on to say, "Nobody is above the law and people
who flout the law will be prosecuted. It is extraordinary that a few people
claim the legislation is unenforceable - we still have burglars flouting
the Theft Act but nobody would dream of repealing that law because some people
continue to break it. Let's use common sense here."
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Pre-ban. The end for a fox on a hunt in Somerset Image
© PW /
IFAW |
Ending with another positive note, it is clear that organised
hare
coursing has been seriously curtailed by Monitor-led evidence and numerous
convictions in court.
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Pre-ban, hounds closing on an Exmoor stag Image © PW
/ IFAW |
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