So it would appear that once again a hunt has been caught red handed holding a fox in an artificial earth and then dragging it from the hole and throwing it in front of the hounds to be chased and killed for the enjoyment of their riders and followers. This time it was the Kimblewick, a hunt which recently killed 97 of it’s hounds due to being infected with bTB. A disease that has unnecessarily caused the deaths of ten’s of thousands of badgers due to the Governments pointless culling policy. The hunt is the plaything of Lord Gardiner of Kimble, a long time Tory who’s been secretary for various ministers and ex chief spin doctor for the so-called Countryside Alliance and now member of the House of Lords.
The incident took place on New Years Day, the meet was at the Thame showground and was claimed as one of the high points of the hunting calendar.
The full video can be seen below.
I don’t think the video needs any explanation here. The Times originally reported on this and it’s clearly going to be a story which isn’t going to go away any time soon and has even made BBC TV. Considering the Kimblewick’s recent history and their claims of being a “super hunt” (whatever that may be) this is certainly big news. Whether there will be any action with regards to prosecutions remains to be seen however even to the most myopic viewer the video is clear evidence of illegal hunting or at the very least the intent to hunt a wild mammal. The terrier men are clearly working under the instruction of the huntsman so one would assume “joint venture” could be worth considering from a legal standpoint.
This compelling evidence once again blows apart the myth that hunts are obeying the law and legally following a trail. What shouldn’t be understated is the frequency in which this takes place. Hunts up and down the country will have artificial earths in their territory and will maintain these in an effort to have foxes to hunt on any given hunt day. This is certainly nothing new or out of the ordinary. Fairly recently the South Herefordshire, the Middleton, the Pytchley, and the Belvoir have all been implicated in keeping foxes purely for the purpose of hunting.
What happened to the fox on New Years Day remains unknown.
The so-called CA and Dim Tim Bonner are certainly going to have a hard time talking their way out of this one especially as their Head of Hunting (Polly Portwin) pretty much lives next door to the Kimblewick kennels and rides with them although they’ll no doubt do their best. If the Masters of Foxhounds Association have any credibility whatsoever they will suspend the Kimblewick immediately and then expel them after their own investigation but let’s face it, what are the real chances of that?
You’re absolutely right Peter, let’s see some action for the authorities
The simple fact is that the hunting lobby like to promote this chocolate box image of hunting, the spectacle and the pomp and also that they somehow provide a service to farmers by controlling fox numbers, not that its even necessary. The truth is however vastly different and this is being shown time and again. Even in the face of such overwhelming evidence some hunt supporters are offering their own explanation which is, as you’d expect completely laughable.
Jo is clearly a master of fantasy fiction
Fox hunting (and all hunting with hounds) is nothing more than organised crime, an organised crime who’s product is cruelty to wildlife, enjoyed by a psychopathic minority who are prepared to pay for the privilege and will employ the lowest of the low to do their dirty work, be that digging out foxes or conducting violent operations against those who oppose them. The fact it is so deeply entrenched within the establishment means we are fighting a constant battle against those who wield both power and influence.
It’s time that changed.
ADDITIONAL
Below is an exert from a post on Facebook by Team Fox (Save Me Trust) run by Brian May. Let’s hope they are as good as their word if the authorities don’t hold the perpetrators to account.
What a load of B*ll*x
Posted: June 19, 2019 in CommentTags: Belvoir Hunt, Countryside Alliance, Fitzwilliam Hunt, Hunt Investigation Team, Kimblewick Hunt, South Herefordshire Hunt, Thames Valley Police, Tim Bonner, West Mercia Police
I’ve been kinda lazy recently in the writing department but if you’re a regular reader you’d have guessed that already. I’ve been kinda busy at work and I’d also had a week away on holiday north of the border which was nice as for once the weather up there was a lot better than down south, plus I got climb a mountain which isn’t something you get to do very often.
While I was away the case of the South Herefordshire Hunt fox cub killers finally reached it’s conclusion. Here was a case that had been dragging on as long as my own one against Fitzwilliam but for very different reasons. The Hunt Investigation Team had secured some very damning evidence against the accused and it did finally get to court although it has now come to light that the reasons behind the delays were insidious to say the least.
There was a concerted effort by some individuals within West Mercia Police to make sure those responsible for the heinous crimes against those fox cubs would never see the inside of a court room. Follow this link for a personal account by Jane Barradale-Smith who is the wife of the officer who received the bodies of the dead foxes.
The highly questionable warrant issued to search premises
The case was very widely reported in the national press and TV with the main focus not just on the convictions but the totally laughable sentences handed out with probably the best article in the Independent. It’s a sad indictment of our legal system that the people responsible avoided a custodial sentence and were in fact not even banned from keeping animals in the future. This is no deterrent at all and another reason in a long list that we need a complete overhaul of sentencing options for hunting and animal cruelty offences along with judges who are prepared to give the maximum sentences where appropriate.
The so-called Countryside Alliance had kept very tight lipped over the whole affair but once the guilty verdicts was announced they were forced into making a statement and it was predictable to say the least.
This is of course a load of unmitigated clap trap. Dim Bonner knows full well this isn’t a case of “Bad Apples”, as far as he’s concerned (and no doubt many other hunts around the country) the stupidity he’s referring to is simply that they got caught. This kind of thing is nothing new. Hunts have always historically provided foxes to be hunted and have no doubt been involved in similar activities to the SHH since hunting with hounds began. Lets not forget the Belvoir Hunt had a fox kept in an outbuilding ready to be hunted, a member to the Fitzwilliam was convicted of keeping a fox in a barrel and last NYD the Kimblewick were filmed dragging a fox from a false earth and throwing it in front of the hounds (which we’ve heard nothing from Thames Valley Police about since).
Speaking of bad apples, below is the statement from a the This is Hunting UK facebook page.
Pfft, “untypical” my arse. It’s all very well and good claiming they have nothing to hide but kennel open days are nothing more than promotional stunts designed to encourage more people to come hunting and they certainly won’t get to see what really goes on behind the scenes. If they really want to be open about what they do just publish the meets along with trail maps so we can all go along and watch them follow these mythical trails. Maybe we can ride with a terrier man and ask him what the terriers are for if the hunt is genuinely following a trail and do they really get that much dust up their noses while mending fences that they need to keep their faces covered. And we haven’t even mentioned “Autumn Hunting” (cubbing) yet.
Nothing whatsoever to hide?
What an absolute load of bollox.
SHH images courtesy of HIT.