Bank holidays are normally spent either recovering from the excess of a weekend (in my case I was still a little fragile from a big Saturday) or getting stuff done at home which had otherwise managed to avoid your attentions. Except this last bank holiday Monday thousands took to the streets of London to remind old Cruella De May that hunting with hounds had no place in modern society.
Photo from ITV.com
I met up with some of the rest of our group to represent Beds & Bucks Hunt Sabs and with our flag proudly blowing the breeze we joined many other sab groups, hunt monitors, members of the public and a smattering of celebs to march through London to make our voices heard. It was a noisy but good natured affair arranged by Keep the Ban, with lots of horns, whistles, chants and the occasional gizmo being played as we marched from Cavendish Square through central London to Downing Street. Those not involved cheered and clapped as we walked by to show their support while many stopped to take photos on their phones.
Grim
It was the polar opposite to when the Countryside Alliance had a street war with the police when the ban came into effect. No dead animals were left on the streets and there was no violence, just a peaceful demonstration. And this sums up the differences between the two sides perfectly. One is all about compassion for our fellow creatures and the other violence. Violence against those unable to defend themselves and violence against anyone who opposes them.
Hunt scum fight with the police.
Understandably there was lots of media attention, here are a few reports.
You’ll notice no BBC. You’d think this would be a news worthy story and yet zilch, nada, nothing. They were even covering another event only a short distance away so could easily have done both. However the BBC are now so firmly under the control of the Government that they are clearly refusing to cover anything which will portray Cruella in a bad light. Perhaps you’d like to complain about their, quite frankly, scandalous coverage of the election as a whole. You can do so here.
Protester as far as you could see.
Another amusing nugget of info came from the clowns on the other side. I won’t grace them with a link however they claimed (through the use of a photo which clearly didn’t portray the reality of the situation) that the police outweighed the protesters by 2 – 1 and was a complete flop. All I can say is that London would have been devoid of police and probably a few of the home counties as well if that was the case. It’s actually laughable that these goons believe the crap they come out with. Any fool on the day could see it was a huge success with the march being out of sight both front and back from my place somewhere in the middle. Actual figures quoted range from 2000 to as many 5000. It’s probably somewhere in the middle.
Of course the boys in blue never miss an opportunity for a bit of intelligence gathering but you have to expect that sort of thing at any anti-government event.
Sergeant Watson and his camera.
All in all a good day for those exercising their right to demonstrate against a manifesto pledge by a party which is clearly run by the few, for the few. The potential repeal of the Hunting Act is only one of numerous reasons any normal person could list as being a reason not to vote Tory on June the 8th. Do the decent thing, when it’s your time to make that mark vote for change and a compassionate Government who will benefit the many.
Public Relations Disaster
Posted: December 29, 2017 in CommentTags: Auntie Sue, Beds & Bucks Hunt Sabs, Boxing Day, Cambridge & Enfield Chace, Countryside Alliance, Theresa May, Thurlow Hunt, Tim Bonner
It’s been a hectic few days.
With Christmas day out the way my attention was obviously turned to the Boxing Day hunts. This is a big thing for the hunting community. A day when they get to put on the facade of respectability and parade through the towns and villages that will still accommodate them. The Countryside Alliance and old dim Tim Bonner will be shouting as loud as they can that hunting is alive and well and growing but, the simple and very obvious fact to those who witness it, is that this is nothing more than desperate propaganda.
The number of hunts in the UK has fallen. The numbers turning out to support those hunts is dropping year on year and the support for a complete ban on hunting with hounds is at an all time high. Even Cruella DeMay has finally realised this and knows any support for hunting is a sure fire vote loser and political suicide.
Young fox killed by the Thurlow on Boxing Day
What hasn’t changed is that hunts are still killing illegally.
Despite claims of following trails (that don’t exist) foxes, hares and stags are being killed. Last Boxing Day alone there were at least 4 recorded kills (1 I personally witnessed), imagine how many more kills were made with no sabs or monitors present? The wildlife isn’t the only thing that suffers. One horse died while being pushed too hard by it’s rider and a hound killed when it was hit by a car. These kind of incidents simply can’t continue and the British public recognize this.
Hound killed after being hit by a car.
From my own point of view I was, with my colleagues from Beds & Bucks Hunt Sabs, in the thick of the action. We made sure the Cambridge and Enfield Chace could do no hunting (a rather pathetic and embarrassing showing I must say) before heading further east to hit the Thurlow. Their kill has made TV and national media and despite what the hunt claim we know the truth and have excellent video footage of the whole incident. Suffolk police have so far acted in a professional manner and we believe we have enough evidence to secure a conviction. I’ll keep you up to date but can say no more at this time, hunting prosecutions are hard enough to achieve as it is so I’ll not risk this one by saying too much.
All in all it’s been a PR disaster for the hunts over the festive period.
Finally I have to report on the sad passing of a wonderful wildlife warrior who I had the pleasure of working with on many occasions. Best known as Auntie Sue she was the definitive version of a compassionate human being. Brave to the last with a wit and humor she wielded like a rapier, many a hunt supporter has been on the end of one of her imaginative put downs. She will be sorely missed and so will her sausage rolls.
Auntie Sue – Hero of Alston Hare Week