Sooty
Well-Known Member
From yesterday's Daily Telegraph:
Hunt man turns himself in after dog kills mouse
By Paul Stokes
(Filed: 05/09/2006)
A retired police officer has admitted twice flouting the new hunting law by allowing his terrier dog to chase and kill a mouse and a mole.
George Morrison, 51, reported himself to former colleagues but he was not prosecuted over either incident.
In the first case, the dog, named Chip, flushed a mole from beneath a horse trailer before swiftly killing it in June last year.
advertisementTwo months later, Chip chased a mouse from behind the washing machine at the family home and went on to make another kill.
Mr Morrison served with Northumbria Police for 30 years before retiring as a detective inspector three months after the Government's Hunting Act came into force in February last year.
He turned himself in to the police on both occasions to demonstrate that the 2004 Hunting Act was a "ridiculous law".
Under the legislation, moles and mice are classed as mammals that cannot be killed by dogs, although they can be shot by a competent huntsman.
Mr Morrison said he was not taken seriously when he reported himself, but was eventually cautioned. He was later told no further action would be taken.
When Chip repeated the offence, the matter was again brought to police attention and a sergeant and constable conducted a second interview.
Again the Crown Prosecution Service did not bring proceedings.
Mr Morrison, who lives with his wife Karen in the Tyne Valley, Northumberland, said: "I knew they wouldn't take me to court because there would have been a media frenzy. Putting myself in a police officer's role, this Act is a nightmare and something they didn't want to enforce."
Since retiring from the police service, he has remained as secretary of the 137-year-old Border Hunt, which was set up to control foxes over a large area of Northumberland and Roxburghshire.
He has gone public on the issue ahead of the second season of hunting since the ban came into effect to draw attention to the state of the law. Mr Morrison stressed that the hunt, which he will head out with next week, operated within the law.
"This law was not about animal welfare, it was about trying to get so-called toffs and red jackets," he said. "But it is rural communities it is affecting."
Chief Insp Simon Packham, of Northumbria Police, said: "We did refer two cases to the CPS regarding this individual, but no further action was taken."
The only material available to police against Mr Morrison were his own admissions in his statements.
A CPS spokesman said: "There was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of a conviction."
Richard Dodd, the regional director of the Countryside Alliance, said: "George is helping to make the point that this law is not about foxes, but is about revenge from the Government about things such as the miners' strikes."
Hunt man turns himself in after dog kills mouse
By Paul Stokes
(Filed: 05/09/2006)
A retired police officer has admitted twice flouting the new hunting law by allowing his terrier dog to chase and kill a mouse and a mole.
George Morrison, 51, reported himself to former colleagues but he was not prosecuted over either incident.
In the first case, the dog, named Chip, flushed a mole from beneath a horse trailer before swiftly killing it in June last year.
advertisementTwo months later, Chip chased a mouse from behind the washing machine at the family home and went on to make another kill.
Mr Morrison served with Northumbria Police for 30 years before retiring as a detective inspector three months after the Government's Hunting Act came into force in February last year.
He turned himself in to the police on both occasions to demonstrate that the 2004 Hunting Act was a "ridiculous law".
Under the legislation, moles and mice are classed as mammals that cannot be killed by dogs, although they can be shot by a competent huntsman.
Mr Morrison said he was not taken seriously when he reported himself, but was eventually cautioned. He was later told no further action would be taken.
When Chip repeated the offence, the matter was again brought to police attention and a sergeant and constable conducted a second interview.
Again the Crown Prosecution Service did not bring proceedings.
Mr Morrison, who lives with his wife Karen in the Tyne Valley, Northumberland, said: "I knew they wouldn't take me to court because there would have been a media frenzy. Putting myself in a police officer's role, this Act is a nightmare and something they didn't want to enforce."
Since retiring from the police service, he has remained as secretary of the 137-year-old Border Hunt, which was set up to control foxes over a large area of Northumberland and Roxburghshire.
He has gone public on the issue ahead of the second season of hunting since the ban came into effect to draw attention to the state of the law. Mr Morrison stressed that the hunt, which he will head out with next week, operated within the law.
"This law was not about animal welfare, it was about trying to get so-called toffs and red jackets," he said. "But it is rural communities it is affecting."
Chief Insp Simon Packham, of Northumbria Police, said: "We did refer two cases to the CPS regarding this individual, but no further action was taken."
The only material available to police against Mr Morrison were his own admissions in his statements.
A CPS spokesman said: "There was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of a conviction."
Richard Dodd, the regional director of the Countryside Alliance, said: "George is helping to make the point that this law is not about foxes, but is about revenge from the Government about things such as the miners' strikes."
