Thats where we'll differ
Dave_Notts
Anti-hunt plan a recipe for conflict in the countryside, according to this is Devon. What do you think?
Its nothing new, they have always engaged in these kind of activity's. I actually suspect this is only a publicity stunt as the LCS has been selling off land at an alarming rate due to cash flow problems.
What many will feel uncomfortable about, however, is the announcement yesterday that the League is investing £1 million in its investigations and operations department to increase the covert monitoring and investigation of hunts in order to gather evidence that it hopes will result in prosecutions. There is no room, in the countryside or anywhere else, for vigilantes taking on the role of police officers and turning detective in an attempt to get huntsmen and women arrested and charged. It is a recipe for conflict and we suspect the police will privately be extremely concerned.
Of course it is the responsibility of all members of the public to report criminal activity to the police and help, where they can, provide information that might lead to a conviction. Anti-hunt campaigners, however, have always taken a more pro-active stance, through disrupting legal hunts, both before and since the ban, and using monitors to film and record hunt activity in the hope of identifying illegal behaviour. To date they have been unsuccessful here in the Westcountry with not a single registered hunt convicted since the introduction of the ban.
What wonderfully writen artical
“The fox is probably my favourite animal,” says Trevor Adams. “It’s one of those things that you so struggle to explain. My father would rather shoot a human than a fox. The fox is king and the world without him would be a much poorer place.”
Adams is a stocky Englishman of 53, quietly authoritative, with silver hair and pale blue eyes, the son of a dry-stone waller; his red coat has five brass buttons each bearing the Buccleuch crest. What is it about the fox that he particularly likes? “Well, of course, he provides me with all the fun in my life. So I admire him for that.”
But if Adams wasn’t a professional huntsman? How would he feel about the fox then? “I would still love him. A marvellous mammal. My worst road trip is when I see a fox run over because it is such a waste. Yet I am employed in the destruction of them. All of this is going to sound contradictory. They deserve a good end. We shoot foxes because we have to. The parliamentarians made us do that. That’s not me doing it out of choice. I’m doing it to stay within the law.”
Surely, though, shooting is a quicker and less cruel end than being killed by dogs? “Well, I would think that if the fox had the vote, he would prefer the older way when he was pitched against his wits to get away from the hounds rather than having some lead pumped through his heart.”
Shooting foxes was regarded, pre-ban, as rather improper. The practice had a name that made it sound like a crime – vulpicide. Even now, among hunting people, the feeling of distaste lingers. John Cook, the senior ‘terrier man’ with the Buccleuch, is one of two men responsible for shooting foxes during today’s hunt. He is tall and ruddy-cheeked, wearing camouflage clothing and a deerstalker cap. He makes no secret of the fact that the task is not to his liking, and explains that healthy foxes are now being shot, whereas before the hounds would pick off the weakest and the strongest might well escape. Crouching over the corpse of a fox he has killed, its muzzle bloody and tongue lolling, he speaks regretfully: “They really don’t have a chance.” Later, his wife Frances says: “Oh, he hates it. It’s so unfair.”
:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
More good news
On Countryfile, ???the conversation went as follows:
John Craven: Are you still committed to a free vote?
David Cameron: I am, I mean I put my cards on the table, I have always thought the hunting ban was a pretty bizarre piece of legislation, I think there should be a free vote in the House of Commons. The House of Commons should make its mind up about this. My problem has always been that it was just taking the criminal law into an area of activity where it didn't really belong, but it will be for the House of Commons to decide and then it will be for the Government t to act on that after a House of Commons decision
John Craven: And will it happen this Parliament?
David Cameron: We've said it will happen in this Parliament, yes.??
And open country, radio 4
