Hunt saboteurs joined forces with huntsmen as they came together to rescue a horse which had become trapped in a deep bog.

Members of Surrey Hunt Monitors and Guildford Hunt Saboteurs were following a group of hunters from the Surrey Hunt Union near Hankley Common on Saturday.

They planned to track the hunt and document their activities, and intervene if any animals got hurt.

But after just 30 minutes one of the lead huntsman’s horses got stuck in a deep bog – and the saboteurs stepped in to help their adversaries rescue the distressed animal.

A member of Guildford Hunt Saboteurs, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “When I arrived, they [the hunt] had started to take the saddle off the horse to reduce weight.

“I waited until they had done that to ask if they needed help but they said ‘no’ so I observed at the side and carried on taking footage.”

Traditional enemies came together when a group of hunt saboteurs came to the aid of huntsman whose horse got tapped in a bog at the weekend

He said more saboteurs arrived on the scene and the hunters continued to refuse assistance, but eventually relented and let them help.

“I jumped in after about five minutes and said to them ‘look, the only thing that’s important at this point in time is the horse, I don’t care about anything else’.

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“At that point, I think they were quite happy for me to assist.

“At the end, the joint hunt master thanked us for our help and said we had been a great help.”

The Surrey Hunt Monitors said they decided to intervene because the horse was “well stuck, freezing cold and clearly stressed”.

A spokesman for the group added: “The horse was very lucky to have survived its ordeal and we were happy we were there with the saboteurs to offer assistance.

“It was heartening to hear the appreciation of the hunt master to all of us who helped when we all made it out of the area safely.”

Surrey Police officers were also called to the scene to help with the rescue.

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A police spokesman said the hunters were “grateful to the help offered” and that the horse “appeared to have no obvious injuries”.

The Surrey Hunt Union says members hunt around the county throughout the hunting season within the restrictions set out in the Hunting Act 2004.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Jeremy Gumbley said the horse is fine and thanked the saboteurs for their help.

“In the ideal scenario, you never want this to happen,” he said.

“The horses are part of the team and we care for them just as much as anyone else. To have that happen is a potential disaster.

“All credit to our Surrey Hunt Monitors and the saboteurs. In the past, we have come to blows over different opinions on various things, but we all love animals.”

He added: “It was quite refreshing to see solidarity, with the human species coming together to help one of our friends.”

Using dogs to hunt foxes was banned by the Government in 2004 under the Hunting Act.

But there are dozens of hunt saboteur groups nationwide who claim hunters regularly flout the law and kill foxes.

Vote could see all hunting banned from National Trust land

Posted on October 13, 2017 by Exposing the Big Game

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A controversial motion to ban all hunting activity from National Trust land could cause many hunts across the country to collapse, campaigners say.

Anti-hunt activists argue the move, if successful, would help stop illegal hunting by taking away huge swathes of land hunts are able to access – but pro-hunt supporters vigorously deny any illegal activity, and warn it risks the loss of a traditional British country sport.

Members are being urged to cast their votes for or against the proposal before midnight on Friday (October 13), when postal and online voting will close.

The motion will then go before the Trust’s annual general meeting on October 21.

Fox hunting has been illegal since 2005. Credit: PA

Hunting live animals with hounds has been illegal since the Hunting Act came into force in 2005.

To try to preserve the tradition, hunts were allowed to continue provided they followed scent-based trails instead.

But foxes are still killed by hunts. They claim this is accidental, and say it only happens when a live fox crosses the trail which has been pre-laid for the hounds.

Animal rights campaigners, however, accuse the hunts of deliberately breaking the law. They argue that trails are rarely, if ever, genuinely laid – it is merely a smokescreen allowing them to continue as they always did.

The motion to ban hunts from National Trust land was put forward by former teacher Helen Beynon, from Wigston in Leicestershire.

She told ITV News she only became aware that hunting still took place in January, when a friend invited her to a demonstration against the Atherstone Hunt in Staffordshire at New Year.

Brian May joined an anti-hunt protest outside Parliament in 2015. Credit: PA

I couldn’t believe this was allowed to happen on National Trust land. I’ve just become more and more passionate about it as the months have gone by and I’ve learned more.

I don’t think a charity which claims to be about conservation and protecting wildlife should be allowing dozens of hounds at a time to be let loose over their land, where there’s a risk they could kill animals living there.

– HELEN BEYNON, CAMPAIGNER

Hunts are still allowed, but must follow scent trails instead of live animals. Credit: PA

Polly Portwin, head of the hunting campaign for the Countryside Alliance, dismissed the allegation that trail hunting was a cover for illegal hunting as “simply untrue”.

“There’s no illegal fox hunting intentionally. Hunts go out to trail hunt – they lay a trail in accordance with the Hunting Act 2004, and the intention is to go out and follow that line, and hunt within the law,” she said.

While accidents do happen, she said, huntsmen are very diligent and always try to call hounds back when they’re aware there is a live fox in the area.

Well-meaning hunt monitors and hunt saboteurs can often make this more difficult by mimicking the huntsman’s horn or calls, confusing the hounds.

She said the motion, if voted through, could completely remove the amount of land available for some hunts – particularly those in rural areas of the north of England.

With some packs, you’d question the viability of them if they lost access to the National Trust land. It’s a huge part of some of their countries.

It’s a big community thing as well, a lot of people – particularly in rural areas – would be vastly affected. This threatens to take away something which is very dear to them.

– POLLY PORTWIN, COUNTRYSIDE ALLIANCE

A huntsman holds up a fox killed by the Durham Hunt in 2005, before the ban came into force. Credit: PA

Despite being illegal for 12 years now, hunting with hounds remains a hot political talking point.

A vote to relax the fox-hunting ban in England and Wales was due to be held in 2015, prompting protests. That was shelved when the SNP confirmed it would take part, making defeat almost certain.

And similar protests were held earlier this year, after Theresa May pledged her support for holding a free vote on repealing the ban.

The National Trust, which boasts more than five million members, issued 79 licences to 67 hunts last year.

It has revamped its rules for licensing in response to Mrs Beynon’s motion, and has advised its members to vote in favour of the new licensing terms instead of a ban.

If the motion is rejected, members will have to wait three years before they can propose it again.

Fox hunting another battleground in U.K. general election

Posted on June 8, 2017 by Exposing the Big Game

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/06/07/fox-hunting-britain-election/102545374/?siteID=je6NUbpObpQ-yqNY7JW.vlpBFQPw1i8utA

Jane Onyanga-Omara , USA TODAYPublished 6:05 a.m. ET June 7, 2017

LONDON — One of the sleeper issues in the United Kingdom’s parliamentary election Thursday is the future of that most iconic British tradition: the fox hunt.

The image of red-coated riders — bugles blaring, hounds barking, steeds galloping through the lush countryside — is familiar around the world. Tally-ho! Trouble is, chasing actual foxes was banned more than a decade ago because of a campaign by animal-rights activists.

Now, traditionalists are lobbying to bring back the real thing, and they have an advocate in Prime Minister Theresa May, whose Conservative Party hopes to defeat the Labour Party and its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who called fox hunting a “barbarity” and vowed to keep it outlawed.

Hunting foxes with more than two dogs was banned in England and Wales in 2004 by the then-Labour government, with the measure going into effect in 2005. Hunters and their dogs instead could follow a trail of fox urine. May has pledged to hold a vote in Parliament on overturning the ban.

Animal rights groups also were infuriated when May said last month that she supports using real foxes again. “I was brought up in the countryside and yes, I do support fox hunting,” she said.

The Labour Party is urging people to sign a petition against overturning the ban.

Emily Whitfield-Wicks, 47, a photographer from Cornwall in southwestern England, where fox hunting is popular, said overturning the ban is “completely and utterly unnecessary.” She said the hunters keep their tradition alive with the hounds following a trail. She said foxes are still killed in order to get urine for the trails from their bladders.

“It’s just inhumane. They (the dogs) get to the fox and they rip it apart and that’s a horrible, horrendous way to die,” she said.

The Countryside Alliance, which promotes rural issues, said a near record 250,000 people attended last year’s Boxing Day hunts traditionally held the day after Christmas. That was despite a poll in September showing 84% of voters believe fox hunting should not become legal again.

Animal-rights advocates said more than 4,000 people marched in central London late last month, calling on May to keep fox hunting illegal, although the Countryside Alliance contests that figure.

A poll this month by market research firm Survation said half of voters were less likely to vote for a candidate who wanted a return to fox hunting, and 67% of voters believe it should remain banned.

Polly Portwin, a spokesperson for the Countryside Alliance, said foxes have no natural predators and are considered a pest in rural areas, killing lambs, chickens and other animals.

“We don’t believe it’s a good law,” she said of the Hunting Act 2004. “There are things about it that don’t make a lot of sense. For example you can chase a fox with two dogs, but you can’t chase it with three.”

She said the law allows shooting and snaring animals, methods she says are “far more cruel,” than hunting with dogs. With shooting and trapping, animals can be maimed and suffer a slow, agonizing death, Portwin said.

“Hunting has become one of the big issues in this election, and it is now clear that it is an extremely toxic one for any pro-hunt candidate,” said Eduardo Goncalves, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, a British animal welfare charity.

Goncalves said the group estimates an average of 16,000 incidents of illegal hunting occur each year since the ban began. The argument that fox hunting has anything to do with animal control is “a ruse,” he said.

“The reality is that fox hunts actually capture and raise foxes so they always have foxes to chase,” he said. “Foxes are not pests as they substantially help the rural economy by predating on rabbits, which in some places may cause agricultural damage.”

The Farmers Union of Wales is also calling for an end to the hunting ban. Wyn Jones, a farmer in Wales, said 114 of his lambs have been killed by foxes over the past four years, according to the Farmer’s Guardian.

“Those who dismiss this evidence and argue against a change … demonstrate a willingness to sacrifice animal welfare and the incomes of hard-working people,” Glyn Roberts, the union’s president, said in a statement.

Brian May blasts David Cameron over support for ‘psychopathic’ fox hunting and badger cull

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Exposing the Big Game

By Mikey Smith

The Queen guitarist and animal rights campaigner gave the Prime Minister both barrels, calling him ‘the worst kind of Tory’ and saying he has no compassion for animals.

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Brian May has launched a passionate attack on David Cameron, who he says has “no compassion for animals whatsoever.”

The Queen guitar legend and animal rights campaigner condemned the Prime Minister’s support for the badger cull and the legalisation of fox hunting.

Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, he said: “It looks like nothing can stand in Cameron’s way. Now he’s got a majority he can plough through with the things he was hesitating on, like fox hunting.

“I think Cameron is a special kind of Tory. The worst kind of Tory. The kind that has no compassion for animals whatsoever.”

He said: “The most appalling thing is that they fought this election on the economy, and now the first thing that comes up is fox hunting.”

Dr May has been vocal on animal rights issues since 2005.

He runs animal rights organisation Save Me, with whom he’s campaigned against blood sports and the badger cull.

He says that of the dozen or so reasons people give for why fox hunting is necessary, all but one fall down on close inspection.

“The only thing you can honestly say about fox hunting is that people enjoy it,” he said. “People have a sadistic pleasure in seeing an animal ripped apart.

“It’s sadism. To be honest, it’s psychopathic behaviour to enjoy the suffering of another creature.”

He added: “People who have no compassion for animals tend not to have compassion for humans either.”

The Mirror contacted Downing Street for a response to Dr May’s comments, but they had not responded at the time of publication.

He said the one glimmer of hope was that when the bill to repeal the Hunting Act is introduced to the Commons, it will be a free vote.

“I think all votes should be free votes,” he said. “It’s by no means certain he’ll have the full support of his party.”

He said a new petition would be set up in the coming days on the government’s website against the repeal.

Should Britain bring back fox hunting?

Dr May was a key campaigner against the badger cull, which was piloted by former environment secretary Owen Patterson, and looks set to continue under his successor Liz Truss.

The 2013 pilot badger culls in Gloucester and Somerset were described as “ineffective” at stemming the spread of bovine TB and failed the test for humaneness, according to an independent panel of experts put together by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

And yesterday it was revealed that at a time when the government is planning £12bn in cuts to welfare, they are content to spend more than £5,000 per badger killed in the heavily criticised plan.

In February, Liz Truss told the annual conference of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) she would press on with the cull in spite of the criticism

She said: “We will not let up, whatever complaints we get from protesters groups. We are in it for the long haul and we will not walk away.”

Dr May said: “She speaks from the same hymn book as Patterson – which is the same hymn book as Cameron, who it seems has some kind of behind closed doors agreement with the NFU to continue the cull regardless of the evidence.”

NFU Director General Andy Robertson said: “The NFU has always been clear about the need for a badger cull as part of a comprehensive strategy to address the scourge of TB. However, we have not met the Prime Minister and Brian May’s claim of a behind the scenes deal therefore makes him look ridiculous.”

A wild badger — ‘Obscene waste of tax payers’ money’: The badger cull was resurrected last year

In the run up to the election, Dr May launched Common Decency, a project intended to encourage people to vote for people who would act with decency in the House of Commons.

He admits he’s disappointed in the outcome of the election.

He says he has no plans to abandon the project, but will be changing his methods.

“A lot of the old methods don’t work,” he said. “Even getting a vote in the House of Commons and winning that vote is no guarantee you’ll influence the government.”

But the Queen guitarist played down reports of a rift between him and Prince Charles.

In one of the Prince’s recently revealed “black spider” letters, the Prince describes the anti-badger cull lobby as “intellectually dishonest”.

But the letter was sent a decade ago, before Dr May was vocal on animal rights issues – and crucially, before the independent report declared the badger cull pilot ineffective.

Dr May said: “I imagine Prince Charles’ views could have changed.

“Somebody should ask him.

Brian May is a panelist on tonight’s Question Time tonight on BBC One at 10.45pm.

Also on the panel are Ukip leader Nigel Farage, and Jeremy Hunt, who confirmed last week that a bill to repeal the Hunting Act would be on the government’s agenda for this Parliament.

Fox shoots man: Wounded creature pulls the trigger on rifle hunter was using to finish him off

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Exposing the Big Game

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

A hunter became the hunted after a fox managed to shoot him with his own gun.

The stricken animal somehow pulled the trigger of the man’s shotgun with its paw, hitting him in the leg.

The bizarre incident happened as the unnamed 40-year-old hunter tried to kill the fox with the butt of his gun after shooting it from a distance.

The fox made its escape while friends took the injured man to hospital.

‘The animal fiercely resisted and in the struggle accidentally pulled the trigger with its paw,’ said a police officer called to the scene in the Grodno region of Belarus.

Fox hunting is popular in the picturesque farming region in the north-west of the country, close to the border with Poland.

The hunter, who asked for his name to be withheld to save his embarrassment, was still in hospital yesterday.

One official said: ‘I have never heard of anything like this before. ‘The hunter couldn’t believe it either. He was in shock.’

Foxes are not protected in Belarus because they transmit rabies.

The region is also a popular destination for hunters of elk, wild boar and even wolves. But from now on, they may not want to get too close to the animals they are stalking.

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Hunt saboteurs join forces with huntsmen as they come together to rescue horse stuck in a bog