A slight lack of updates recently but the hunt season is now in full swing and I’ve been committed to saving lives in the field to which we’ve been very successful, which leads me nicely to the point of this blog post.
I’ve produced and published many videos over social media and YouTube over the last few years and many have had several thousand views and generally been well received. They got the point across and some of the footage was both revealing and damning at the same time. However the latest one has, for the first time gone completely viral, which is a first for me and out group. While the incident recorded is nothing particularly new there was one part which really stood out and made it interesting. If you haven’t seen it already check it out below.
I, for once wasn’t actually there, the scenes were shot by 2 colleagues who were travelling in a different vehicle. I was on driver duty that day and while this footage was being shot I was attempting to get to the scene with more sabs as quickly as I could without endangering both animals and other road users.
The video also made both local and national news (Mirror) although the video was edited down which of course was to be expected but in doing so missed out some of the wider context. The big talking point was the reaction from the local people in the rural Cambridgeshire village of Upwood. The so-called Countryside Alliance will often claim they are the voice of the countryside but, as the video clearly shows these rural people were far from happy to have their village invaded by the hunt in pursuit of a fox. They made their feelings know in no uncertain terms and of course this kind of a reaction is pure gold for the anti-hunt side and dispels all of the myths perpetuated by the CA that they speak for any of these people. They have, and always will be, a minority bloodsports lobbying group.
We’ve had lots of messages of support from the locals thanking us for our efforts and also expressing shock at the total contempt and sense of entitlement shown by the hunt on the day.
Of course this is a major embarrassment for the Fitzwilliam Hunt (remember they are due in court in April) but their response was equally laughable. As expected they went on the attack claiming they were hunting within the law and accused animal rights activist of “telling blatant lies”.
Doesn’t look too interested in retrieving the hounds currently running amok.
Within the law – The Fitzwilliam cynically use the Bird of Prey Exemption. While no fox is caught on camera you can hear the villagers say they have seen it run through the village. For the BoP exemption to be legal once a fox is flushed the hounds have to be called off and the bird is released, in this case, a Golden Eagle. Do you really think they would release a Golden Eagle in a village? Any cats or small dogs would be at risk not only from the hounds but also from the bird itself but that was never going to happen. There’s a reason Golden Eagles live in mountains and uplands, they need a lot of space! Also a no point can you see or heat the Huntsman or Whipper In calling the hounds back. They are more interested in seeing them in cry and on the scent of live quarry. The legality claims simply hold no water.
The hunt also claimed; “The behaviour of animal rights activists shouting, screaming and telling blatant lies may well have caused some concern in the village to inflame the situation and was certainly of no help to anyone.”
Surely if the hunts claims are to be believed there would be a huntsman in this picture calling back the hounds.
Actually what those present did was clear hounds from peoples gardens and private property while attempting to stop them hunting. This is obvious for all to see in the full video but then again we don’t expect the hunt to admit this. The villagers also acted on their own initiative before our operative arrived. They were confronting the hunt on their own terms and we absolutely support them in the stance they took. Well done villagers of Upwood!
It doesn’t end there. I’m told the Master, Philip Baker had to apologise to the villagers of Alconbury Weston only a couple of weeks ago for a similar incident, it seems they have previous on this. Will he be forced into making another similar and embarrassing apology? I’ll keep you posted but no doubt an attempt to blame sabs on the day will be included as a way of saving face.
A the time of writing the video has had over 2500 shares and 216000 views and its still going. It’s had a reach of over half a million and there have been 15500 reactions and comments. We’e also received in that time frame over a 1000 more likes to our Facebook page. These kind of number prove the hunting debate isn’t going to go away but most importantly the vast majority of those commenting have been supportive of both our actions and those of the villagers in the video. This is a clear demonstration that the days of hunting with hounds is truly numbered. We just need a Government willing to listen to the people, improve the legislation and enforce it vigorously.
Final Fitz Update
Posted: April 3, 2018 in CommentTags: Bird of Prey exemption, Fitzwilliam Hunt, George Adams, Hunt Saboteurs, Hunting with Dogs Act 2004, John Mease, Peterborough Magistrates Court
I had a call only the other day and a familiar voice spoke to me.
“Hi, it’s John, there’s been another change”.
My immediate thoughts were along the lines of “Oh FFS what now?” but before I could go any further John (the witness care officer for the CPS) informed me of the change.
“The date has been moved to next Wednesday and we’re back at Peterborough Magistrates”.
Now this seemed a little odd. Those of you who have been keeping up to date with the long running Fitzwilliam court case saga will no doubt already know that this high profile case has now been awaiting trial for well over 2 years. There have been multiple delays due to various reasons including what I believe to be the attempted derailment of the case by the CA and most notably “court politics”, that means not being able to find an impartial judge. The main reason the location was moved out of county originally was to try and lesson the chance of any conflict of interest with regards to the judge knowing the defendants however that probably now makes little difference.
John went on to explain that they had only found out about the changes by accident and were now desperately trying to inform all the witnesses. Was this an attempt to scupper the case somehow by not informing those required to attend? Later on I spoke to the investigating officer and he was as shocked as I. It was the first they’d heard of it and would now have to allocate resources to the day.
Adams (left) & Mease.
So at least it was still going ahead and I will be giving evidence along with a colleague from another sab group on Wednesday (4th) while the expert witness will be speaking on Thursday. There are 2 cases to answer, 2 counts of illegal hunting (George Adams now retired Fitzwilliam huntsman and John Mease, current BoP handler) and another of cruelty to a protected species (John Mease).
As I’ve mentioned before the outcome of this case could have serious and wider implications regarding the use of raptors in an effort to circumnavigate the Hunting Act. I believe we have a very good case compared to the normal trail hunting cases we’ve seen recently. In those instances you have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that there was intent to hunt the animal in question, the hunts will use the “accident” alibi to cover themselves and its difficult to prove otherwise.
By using the BoP exemption the intent to hunt is already there. What comes into question is have the hunt staff taken all necessary measures to call off the hounds once the animal has been flushed and has the bird has been released?
Nothing is certain in Hunting Act cases, but given a prosecutor who knows their stuff and an honest judge I hope for a successful outcome but regardless of whether we achieve a guilty or innocent verdict in the eyes of the court, getting them there is a victory in itself and anyone who witnessed the incident on the day will know the truth.
I’ll publish more details after the case along with the video footage I took.
If anyone wishes to attend and make their feelings known on hunting then please do however I ask you behave in a suitable manner.