Hunting is in a spot of bother

PurpleSpots said:
Nearly 1600 reported incidents involving hunting this last season :( .

www.league.org.uk

New figures show the scale of fox hunting and the havoc being inflicted on rural communities

A new set of figures showing the scale of suspected illegal fox hunting and the havoc being inflicted on rural communities by fox hunts has been released today by national animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports.
www.league.org.uk
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Erm, I would check out what 'reported' actually means and advise using police data rather than LACS. I wonder if you have seen/heard of latest LACS developments?
 
suestowford said:
I haven't, what's been going on there?
I dislike them as much as the rude hunting folk hereabouts! And I wouldn't trust anything either group says...
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MP chair of animal charity steps down after being arrested over child sex offence allegations​

07 April 2025 by Emily Harle
Dan Norris has also been suspended from the Labour Party with immediate effect
GettyImages-2160752864.jpg
Dan Norris (Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)
The Labour MP Dan Norris has stepped down as chair of an animal welfare charity after he was arrested on suspicion of child sex offences.
Norris, who is the MP for North East Somerset and Hanham and the Metro Mayor for West England, was taken into custody on Friday on suspicion of sexual offences against a girl, rape, child abduction and misconduct in a public office.
The MP was chair of the animal welfare charity League Against Cruel Sports, but the charity confirmed that he stepped down this weekend following his arrest, with trustee Astrid Clifford taking up the post on an interim basis.
A party spokesperson said Norris has been suspended from the Labour Party. He was already due to step down from his mayoral role before next month’s local elections.
Norris has been released on conditional bail and enquiries remain ongoing.
Avon and Somerset Police said: “A man, aged in his sixties, was arrested on Friday on suspicion of sexual offences against a girl (under the Sexual Offences Act 1956), rape (under the Sexual Offences Act 2003), child abduction and misconduct in a public office. He’s been released on conditional bail for enquiries to continue.”
The police said that in December, they received a referral from another police force relating to alleged non-recent child sex offences having been committed against a girl.
“Most of the offences are alleged to have occurred in the 2000s, but we’re also investigating an alleged offence of rape from the 2020s,” the police said.
“An investigation, led by officers within Operation Bluestone, our dedicated rape and serious sexual assault investigation team, remains ongoing and at an early stage.”

The police added that the victim was being supported and given access to any specialist help or support she needed.
A spokesperson for the LACS said: “We can confirm Dan Norris MP has stepped down from his role as chair of the League Against Cruel Sports, and an interim chair has been appointed from the board of trustees.
“The charity cannot comment further while an investigation is ongoing.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Dan Norris MP was immediately suspended by the Labour Party upon being informed of his arrest. We cannot comment further while the police investigation is ongoing.”
The suspension has the automatic effect of removing the Labour whip in the House of Commons, Third Sector understands.
A spokesperson for the Charity Commission said: “We are aware of the arrest of an individual who, until recently, was chair of the League Against Cruel Sports. We are assessing the matter to determine what, if any, role there might be for the Charity Commission."
Norris has been approached for comment via his mayoral office.

Topics: Governance

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There has also been an ongoing fraud investigation into LACS.​









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Thanks Palo. I've just had a quick read up on the fraud investigation and it seems that's been closed now, they didn't find enough evidence to go ahead. Doesn't mean it didn't happen, they just couldn't find the evidence!
It's all very murky and not the first time it's happened either, but I wonder if it's the usual sort of in-fighting you get in the charity sector at times.
As for that MP, I feel pity for that constituency. They surely voted in another wrong-un.
 
PurpleSpots said:
Oh crikey :( .

Why can't human beings just be decent to the world around them :( .


I'm not sure the behaviour of one member mean that the reported incidents regarding hunting are any less significant though?
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Exactly that. Obviously the behaviour of that man is abhorrent. It makes no odds to illegal hunting though.
 
PurpleSpots said:
Oh crikey :( .

Why can't human beings just be decent to the world around them :( .


I'm not sure the behaviour of one member mean that the reported incidents regarding hunting are any less significant though?
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I think the issue is that both LACS cannot be seen to be in any way neutral in their reporting of hunting related matters - they encourage people to report all manner of things in the name of 'hunting incidents ' - including entirely unrelated things and then include those in the hunting incidents number: it is entirely deliberate and totally disingenuous. The fraud and other matters are significant because of the way that those things call into question the integrity and governance of the organisation which has a direct (through this MP) line to Westminster. That in itself is questionable in terms of lobbying tbh. LACS has long been dodgy wrt reporting illegal hunting and fraud and these charges of utterly abhorrent crimes, alongside the support of convicted terrorists do not make for a safe or reputable organisation.
 
I wonder what led the utterly ineffective BHSA to reinstate the Blackford and Sparkford Vale hunt to its ranks after a brief ban after the hunt had been caught red handed on covert drone footage hunting and killing a fox? Might it actually act now?

It really was a case of Gotcha. Now confirmed in court with four guilty verdicts. The defence was once again lamer than a lame thing in the face of the bleeding obvious.

www.channel4.com

Blackmore & Sparkford Vale Hunt: Four men guilty of offences under the hunting act

Last year Channel 4 News reported on the Blackmore & Sparkford Vale Hunt, who were captured on drone cameras conducting what a court decided today was illegal hunting. Four men were found guilty of offences under the hunting act, which makes it illegal to actively hunt a fox with hounds.…
www.channel4.com www.channel4.com
 
Tiddlypom said:
I wonder what led the utterly ineffective BHSA to reinstate the Blackford and Sparkford Vale hunt to its ranks after a brief ban after the hunt had been caught red handed on covert drone footage hunting and killing a fox? Might it actually act now?

It really was a case of Gotcha. Now confirmed in court with four guilty verdicts. The defence was once again lamer than a lame thing in the face of the bleeding obvious.

www.channel4.com

Blackmore & Sparkford Vale Hunt: Four men guilty of offences under the hunting act

Last year Channel 4 News reported on the Blackmore & Sparkford Vale Hunt, who were captured on drone cameras conducting what a court decided today was illegal hunting. Four men were found guilty of offences under the hunting act, which makes it illegal to actively hunt a fox with hounds.…
www.channel4.com www.channel4.com
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Yes, it is appalling - that hunt should have been disbanded and those guilty, barred from having anything to do with animals permanently.
 
Police have charged a man with a number of offences related to fox hunting.

Oliver Dale, aged 46 and from Cheltenham, has been charged with three offences of Hunting a Wild Mammal with Dogs, contrary to Section 1 of the Hunting Act 2004.

The offences took place at various locations throughout the Cotswolds on 12 October, 2 November 2024 and 16 November 2024.

Dale is due to appear at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court on Monday 14 May.

Oliver Dale is huntsman and joint master of the North Cotswold hunt. Here is Horse and Hound mag waxing lyrical about him back in 2021.

www.horseandhound.co.uk

A proper cracker: a pre-lockdown day out with the North Cotswold *H&H Plus members*

A good friend and I have a sort of code expression for a disappointing day’s hunting. “How was it?” one asks. “It was lovely to be out…” replies the other. We know exactly what we mean; barring disasters, an unexciting day’s hunting is always better than not going at all, but not every day is …
www.horseandhound.co.uk www.horseandhound.co.uk
 
Nothing much changes, though this time the BHSA has actually got off its backside and suspended a hunt fairly promptly. The police are also investigating.

Clear drone footage catches out a number of participants with the foot pack the Coniston Foxhounds digging out a fox on Saturday November 8th at a meet near Ambleside and throwing it to hounds.

That despicable practice was not even permitted pre ban, let alone post ban.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9d62dn51pqo

The footage is being shared widely by the anti groups, it’s grim.
 
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Tiddlypom said:
Nothing much changes, though this time the BHSA has actually got off its backside and suspended a hunt fairly promptly. The police are also investigating.

Clear drone footage catches out a number of participants with the foot pack the Coniston Foxhounds digging out a fox on November 9th at a meet near Ambleside and throwing it to hounds.

That despicable practice was not even permitted pre ban, let alone post ban.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9d62dn51pqo

The footage is being shared widely by the anti groups, it’s grim.
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Just awful. I hope the footage doesn't find me on FB.

I have noticed that our sort of local hunt advertise on FB but put a vague area of where the meets are. Which seems pointless because the sab groups seems to find them anyway, and people interested in joining the 'countryside rides' or whatever they're calling it at the moment don't know what/where it is. We're in what was Avon Vale country and one of their huntsman (who seems like an awful man on a number of levels) goes out with this lot so I've not got high hopes that they're on the right side of the law!
 
This is the drone footage of the dig out by the Coniston Foxhounds. I’ve hidden it behind a spoiler. There are a number of individuals involved in this, and the footage is clear enough that most of them should be identifiable.

It is covert footage showing what they get up to when they are unaware that they are being observed.

https://fb.watch/Dlcy_Zcb09
[\SPOILER]
 
Petalpoos said:
Really disgusting. Why can these men not stop for a minute and consider how they would feel if a gang of men dug their terrier out of a hole, after chasing it for a couple of hours, then threw it to the hounds?
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They simply do not care and think they are above the law. Very sick people who really need some help. Anyone that can do that to a living creature has to be sick in the head.
 
rabatsa said:
Why does anyone break the law at all. Drink drivers/speeding/the list is endless. Some people are in their own bubble and the law does not apply to them. I cannot answer for the law breakers in any scenario.
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I understand that but these sort of incidents seem fairly common in ""Trail Hunting"" If the law is being followed then why is this sort of thing going on? If you are pro hunting this is the kind of thing that goes on in your sport.
 
I knew I remembered this scenario having happened pre ban and been filmed by antis. It’s detailed in Michael Clayton (the former editor of Horse and Hound)’s autobiography The Ride of My Life, which I’ve read and is still on my Kindle to search.

The Ride of My Life: Memoirs of a Sporting Editor: Amazon.co.uk: Michael Clayton: 9781910723210: Books

Buy The Ride of My Life: Memoirs of a Sporting Editor by Michael Clayton (ISBN: 9781910723210) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
www.amazon.co.uk

In the 1991-2 season the Quorn, the first season after Jim Bealby had resigned, the entire foxhunting scene was rocked when the Hunt was targeted by an anti posing as a Hunt supporter who took video pictures of a botched digging operation. The fox after being dug out unharmed was set free, but was killed almost immediately by the pack which was waiting nearby.

Traditional practice was for a fox bolted from an earth to be given ‘law’ to get well away across country before the pack was put on the line again. The video was widely broadcast on national TV, causing much consternation to the Masters of Foxhounds Association and the Countryside Alliance.

Two senior Joint Masters, Joss Hanbury and Barry Hercock, were suspended from the MFHA for four years, and two new Masters for the remainder of that season. There was much criticism in Leicestershire of the MFHA for ‘over-reacting’ in seeking to make an example of the Quorn, and there were grounds for this because the rules regarding digging procedure were not specific.

Soon afterwards the MFHA’s disciplinary process was changed radically, and its rule made much more precise on the question of foxes run to ground: ‘….when a hunted fox is run to ground in a natural earth, there shall be no digging other than for the purpose of humanely destroying the fox,’ and it added the caveat ‘… a fox which has been handled must be humanely destroyed immediately and under no circumstances hunted.’

Even the League Against Cruel Sports, which published the video, said in a press conference that the incident was not against the original rules of the MFHA.

As I’ve posted I have also been present long pre ban in the 1970s when the fox was dug out in front of hounds, except that that fox bolted clean away leaving the hounds looking stupid and we younger members of the field giving it a quiet cheer, and getting a rollicking.
 
Petalpoos said:
Really disgusting. Why can these men not stop for a minute and consider how they would feel if a gang of men dug their terrier out of a hole, after chasing it for a couple of hours, then threw it to the hounds?
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As they are those weird emotionally stunted types who torture animals for fun, probably just be peeved at having to buy a new terrier.

I’m just hoping the clean boot/bloodhound hunts don’t get scuppered by the Mickey takers.
 
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Fullers1845 said:
As they are those weird emotionally stunted types who torture animals for fun, probably just be peeved at having to buy a new terrier.

I’m just hoping the clean boot/bloodhound hunts don’t get scuppered by the Mickey takers.
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I feel its really too late for any type of hunting with hounds now. You all know who you have to blame for that. Had trail hunting been done properly from the ban it wouldnt have come to this.
 
Sandstone1 said:
The pretence of trail hunting must stop. We all know it’s a poor cover for illegal fox hunting as pre ban. It has to stop and soon. This is just one incident that was caught on film. Many more will have gone on. How can anyone indulge in a sport where this goes on.
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In 2026 they are starting the build up to the legislation apparently, consultation starts early next year https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/hunting/government-consultation-ban-trail-hunting-909581
 
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