Re the incident that inspired the file A Minority Pasttime

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http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Film-tells-savage-truth/article-2072324-detail/article.html


These are the stories that appeared at the time. The last one, from the Independent on Sunday 18.11.07, has the version described by Ivor Annetts - which is quite different from what she was saying in 2006.

If you go to the Newshound website, there are links to the stories in the November 2007 page - http://www.newshound.org.uk/November 2007.htm - but I think most of the local paper website links will have changed by now.


Stroud News & Journal 8.2.06
'Slap Asbos on hunts'
by Sian Davies
FED-UP Elcombe residents are calling for ASBOs to be issued against members of the Cotswold Hunt because they say its hounds continually cause havoc on their land.
In October, 10 angry householders wrote to the hunt asking it to keep hounds off their property.
But on Thursday residents say they saw hounds on their land again.
Householder Denise Ward said: "We heard a terrible noise and looked out to see a whole pack of hounds coming down through the woodlands opposite us - which is private land.
"They went down over the Trantershill Plantation which is also private land and into my neighbour's garden.
"Then there was this terrible screaming noise which could have been a fox or a deer.
"When they were gone I went up there and found fresh blood."
She reported the incident to the police and forensic tests are being carried out.
Mrs Ward and her neighbour, Jeanne Berry, who claims the hounds also crossed her land, both say Anti-Social Behaviour Orders would solve the problem.
ASBOs can ban people from committing anti-social offences and prohibit them from entering a specified area.
They have become synonymous with so-called 'chav culture' - a world away from the hunting set.
Besides the disturbance, Mrs Berry is worried about the safety of her pets cats.
She has now asked a solicitor to begin a civil action for trespassing. "Why can't they be given ASBOs? If it was a teenager doing it they would be given one straight away," she said.
The Andoversford-based hunt said nothing was killed and that every effort is made to keep hounds off private land.
However, Bob Cooper, a senior master, admitted one or two hounds may have strayed.
"We know about the Elcombe situation and have sent notification of when we're in the area to those residents," he said.
"As far as we're aware the hounds didn't go on private land.
"However a couple may have strayed from the rest of the pack but if the whole pack was there the huntsman would have been with them."
He declined to comment on the calls for an ASBO.

Jeanne Berry and Denise Ward. Mrs Berry says her cats are at risk from the hounds

Western Daily Press 9.2.06
CALL FOR HUNT TO GET ASBO
10:25 - 09 February 2006
A West hunt is "anti-social" and should be given an Asbo to make it stay away from a Gloucestershire valley, according to an angry landowner. The claim, by local landowner Jeanne Berry, follows complaints about the Cotswold Hunt's hounds running across people's gardens.
Police are also probing claims the hunt illegally killed an animal on private woodland high in the Slad Valley, near Stroud, last week.
As part of their investigation, officers have taken DNA samples of bloodstains found in a clearing, the Western Daily Press can reveal.
But a hunt spokeswoman strenuously denied the claims yesterday and say they have done nothing wrong.
The police probe began after a complaint from Mrs Berry, who said she was distraught after finding bloodstains in her wood, and demanded legal action against the hunt.
She is hiring a solicitor to apply for an anti-social behaviour order against the hunt, preventing it from going near her land at Elcombe. She said: "Last October, hounds from the hunt were out of control over various people's gardens in Elcombe and I wrote to the hunt and then again with a petition letter signed by many of my neighbours complaining and asking them not to trespass again.
"We had a letter back apologising for one or two hounds going into people's gardens - it wasn't, it was more - but we thought that would do the trick, and they wouldn't be back, but we were wrong.
Last week they were back." It is claimed hounds from the hunt ran across Mrs Berry's land - although she wasn't at home at the time.
Mrs Berry said: "I went there later on and there was blood on the ground, but whatever had been killed wasn't there any more." A police spokesman said:
"Gloucestershire police are investigating allegations that illegal hunting took place on land near Elcombe.
"As part of this investigation a blood sample has been taken from the scene for forensic examination." Mrs Berry said: "Their letter apologised for any damage caused by the hounds, but it's not about the damage, it's about wildlife and the principle of the thing.
"I've engaged a specialist solicitor from Devon and obviously this is going to cost me money." Mrs Berry said she would start by trying to obtain an injunction on the hunt preventing them from coming near her land.
She said having dogs running across people's land was "anti-social" and unacceptable.
"Why can't we put Asbos on them?" she said.
"If they were a bunch of lads with motorbikes and pitbulls then the police would do that straight away." Last night the Cotswold Hunt vehemently denied breaking the law, or even trespassing on Mrs Berry's land last week.
Delly Everard, from the Countryside Alliance's Wessex region, spoke on behalf of the hunt and said she feared people had misunderstood the hunting with dogs ban to mean hunts were illegal too.
She said: "The Cotswold Hunt maintain that not a single rider and not even the hounds trespassed last Thursday. The hunt is well aware of where they can and can't go and there were riders posted along the line to stop the hounds."
ALTHOUGH hunting with dogs is banned, hunts are still legally riding out with hounds, and can - under certain conditions - find and kill foxes and other wild mammals.
The spokeswoman added:
"Not a single hound crossed that line, although they were barking and that is probably what local residents heard.
They didn't even catch a fox that day. I think people see a hunt and assume they are breaking the law." Cotswold Hunt joint master Bob Cooper confirmed they had a letter of complaint from an incident last autumn that they had replied to, and that there was an "issue" with land at Elcombe.
He said: "When we went there about 12 weeks ago it was the first time we'd been there for 30-odd years, so problems arose because of that .
"Then, last Thursday, we were there again. As far as I'm aware none of our hounds got into that wood.
Our hunt staff called them off and said none of them had trespassed.
"We are quite happy that they never got in there. We only hunt a trail and it is not our intention to hunt live quarry. Residents would hear the hounds and maybe they misunderstood what was happening."
http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayN...yContent&sourceNode=145792&contentPK=13988161

 

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Independent 10.2.06
Villagers seek Asbo to drive Cotswold Hunt from their land
By Arifa Akbar
Published: 10 February 2006
They are used to being chastised by hunt saboteurs or animal-loving MPs but now Britain's huntsmen and women face a new threat, the Asbo.
The Cotswold Hunt, a pillar of Gloucestershire society, could soon be on the receiving end of a punishment often reserved for young tearaways in "hoodies". Followers of the hunt have allegedly stampeded across private land, leaving a trail of destruction.
Villagers in Elcombe claim the hunt has strayed into gardens, left bloodstains and killed animals illegally in private woodland. Jeanne Berry, a landowner, instructed her solicitor yesterday to apply for an antisocial behaviour order and an injunction against further trespass after the alleged disturbance.
Gloucestershire Police are investigating the complaint that the hunt illegally killed an animal in the Slad Valley last week, and have taken DNA samples of bloodstains found in a clearing.
Ten villagers from Elcombe said they first wrote to the hunt last October requesting huntsmen to keep their hounds off private property. But last Thursday they found signs that the dogs had entered their land again.
Ms Berry said an Asbo would prevent the hunt from causing more damage. "Last October, hounds from the hunt were out of control over various people's gardens and I wrote to the hunt to complain. Then I sent a petition letter signed by many of my neighbours complaining and asking them not to trespass again.
"We had a letter back apologising for one or two hounds going into people's gardens and we thought that would do the trick. We thought they wouldn't dare come back after that, but we were wrong. Last week they were back again. They ran across my ground. I went there later and there was blood on the ground but whatever had been killed had been taken away.
"I don't see why there shouldn't be an Asbo. If they were a bunch of lads with motorbikes and pitbulls then the police would apply for an Asbo straight away."
Denise Ward, a neighbour, described an incident in which she claims to have witnessed the hunt tearing through private woodland. "We heard a terrible noise and looked out to see a whole pack of hounds coming down through the woodlands opposite us, which is private land.
"They went down over the Trantershill Plantation which is also private land and into my neighbour's garden. Then there was this terrible screaming which could have been a fox or a deer. When they were gone I went up there and found fresh blood."
Mrs Ward and Mrs Berry say an Asbo on the hunt would prevent it returning to the valley by banning it from entering a specified area. The orders can carry penalties in the criminal courts.
The hunt, based at Andoversford, near Cheltenham, insisted that nothing was killed last week and that every effort was made to keep hounds away from private land, although the senior master, Bob Cooper, admitted one or two hounds may have strayed. "We know about the Elcombe situation and have sent notification of when we're in the area to those residents," he said. "We only hunt a trail and it is not our intention to hunt live quarry. Residents would hear the hounds and maybe they misunderstood what was happening."
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article344488.ece

Gloucester Citizen 10.2.06
LANDOWNER: 'SLAP ASBO ON HUNTERS'
09:30 - 10 February 2006
A Hunt has been dubbed "anti-social" and should be given an ASBO to make it stay away from a Stroud valley, according to an angry landowner.
The claim, by landowner Jeanne Berry, follows complaints about the Cotswold Hunt's hounds running across people's gardens. Police are also probing claims that the hunt illegally killed an animal on private woodland high in the Slad Valley last week.
Officers have taken DNA samples of bloodstains found in a clearing.
But a hunt spokeswoman denied the claims and said it had done nothing wrong.
The police probe began after a complaint from Mrs Berry, who said she was distraught after finding bloodstains in her wood, and demanded legal action against the hunt.
She is hiring a solicitor to apply for an Anti-social Behaviour Order (ASBO) against the hunt, preventing it from going near her land at Elcombe.
She said: "Last October, hounds from the hunt were out of control over various people's gardens in Elcombe and I wrote to the hunt and then again with a petition letter signed by many of my neighbours complaining and asking them not to trespass again.
"We had a letter back apologising for one or two hounds going into people's gardens - it wasn't, it was more - but we thought that would do the trick, and they wouldn't be back, but we were wrong. Last week they were back."
It is claimed hounds from the hunt ran across Mrs Berry's land, although she wasn't at home at the time.
She said: "I went there later on and there was blood on the ground, but whatever had been killed wasn't there any more."
A police spokesman said: "Gloucestershire police are investigating allegations that illegal hunting took place on land near Elcombe.
"As part of this investigation a blood sample has been taken from the scene for forensic examination."
Mrs Berry said having dogs running across people's land was "anti-social".
"Why can't we put Asbos on them?" she said. "If they were a bunch of lads with motorbikes and pitbulls then the police would do that straight away.
Delly Everard, from the Countryside Alliance's Wessex Region, on behalf of the hunt, said she feared people had misunderstood the hunting with dogs ban to mean hunts were illegal too.
She said: "The Cotswold Hunt maintain that not a single rider and not even the hounds trespassed last Thursday. The hunt is well aware of where they can and can't go and there were riders posted along the line to stop the hounds."

they have signed a declaration to break the law and the police say they will not be able to stop them...nuff said
M Stoneman, suffolk
http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/...yContent&sourceNode=138497&contentPK=13991698

 

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Telegraph 25.3.06
Woods row huntsmen get Asbo warning
By Richard Savill
(Filed: 25/03/2006)
Three huntsmen have been issued with a warning notice under anti-social behaviour legislation following a complaint that hounds had trespassed on private land.
The notice, believed to be the first of its kind against huntsmen, prevents the leaders of the Cotswold Hunt from taking hounds through 30 acres of private woodland on the edge of Elcombe, near Stroud, Glos.
The move follows complaints by Jeanne Berry, who owns part of the woodland, and other residents. Mrs Berry, an opponent of hunting, called in police last month after finding bloodstains on her fencing.
A file was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service, but it decided there was not enough evidence to justify a prosecution under the Hunting Act 2004.
The Stroud area anti-social behaviour co-ordinator Colin Peake held a meeting with both parties to discuss the complaint.
"It was accordingly decided that the most effective way to resolve the issue was to serve a warning notice," he said.
"The Cotswold Hunt accepted this and the warning notice has thus been served on three individuals who have control and management of the hunt. Hopefully a practical and long-standing resolution has been achieved."
He said the names of the three huntsmen were "confidential".
A warning notice carries no punishment if it is breached but it can be used as evidence in future legal proceedings under anti-social behaviour legislation.
http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/...unt25.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/03/25/ixhome.html

Gloucester Citizen 25.3.06
MEMBERS WARNED AFTER HUNT INCIDENT
09:30 - 25 March 2006
Three key members of the Cotswold Hunt have been issued with warning notices in response to calls from residents of Elcombe, near Painswick for an anti-social behaviour order to keep hounds off their land.
The documents were served after meetings were held between the police, landowners, The Cotswold Hunt and Stroud District Council's anti-social behaviour co-ordinator. Joint master of the hunt Bob Cooper said the warning notices would be respected in the same way as any other requests by landowners for horses and hounds to avoid their property.
"We do get letters from people asking us not to go on their land and we always respect their rights," he said.
The horses and hounds were due to meet near Brockhampton today for the last trail hunt of the season.
Stroud's anti-social behaviour co-ordinator Colin Peake said he was pleased that the difficulties between Elcombe residents and the hunt appeared to have been resolved.
He said the residents had originally complained to police
"After investigation, the complaint was referred to the Crown Prosecution Service which confirmed that there was no evidence to bring a prosecution under the Hunting Act 2004," he said.
"It was proposed that a meeting with the hunt be arranged to discuss the complaints and that accordingly the most effective way to resolve the issue was to serve a warning notice."
Yesterday The Citizen was unable to contact any of the Elcombe residents who had called for the Cotswold Hunt to be issued with an Asbo.
Earlier this year landowner Jeanne Berry said: "Last October, hounds from the hunt were out of control over various people's gardens in Elcombe and I wrote to the hunt and then again with a petition letter signed by many of my neighbours complaining and asking them not to trespass again," she said.
"We had a letter back apologising for one or two hounds going into people's gardens - it wasn't, it was more - but we thought that would do the trick, but we were wrong. "

A STRANGE STATEMENT BY BOB COOPER , A JOINT HUNTMASTER OF THE COTSWOLD HUNT. HE SAYS THE HUNT WILL KEEP OFF LAND WHEN THE LAND OWNER REQUESTS IT. THE LAW STATES THAT THE HUNT NEEDS PERMISSION TO GO ONTO LAND BEFOREHAND , NOT THE OTHER WAY ABOUT. IS THIS ANOTHER RULE IN THE HUNTING BILL THAT THE COTSWOLD HUNT CHOOSE NOT TO UNDERSTAND?
KEN BRADFORD, GLOUCESTER
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co...Node=138769&contentPK=14239961&folderPk=80412

Western Daily Press 25.3.06
'YELLOW CARD' FOR MEMBERS OF WEST HUNT
Three members of a West hunt have been served with Asbo warnings by council chiefs following an incident in Gloucestershire.
As the Western Daily Press revealed earlier this year, residents in the tiny hamlet of Elcombe, near Stroud, called in police claiming the Cotswold Hunt trespassed on their land - and some hounds killed a fox - a claim the hunt denied.
Landowner Jeanne Berry sparked the row when she claimed the Cotswold Hunt trespassed on their land.
Mrs Berry - who found blood in the woods - called on the police to take action.
But after the police and the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case through a lack of evidence, the residents turned to Stroud District Council's anti-social behaviour co-ordinator, who yesterday served a warning notice on three senior members of the hunt.
The hunt has not been served with a full Asbo because, after mediation between the two sides, it was felt unnecessary.
Instead the three - two joint masters and a huntsman - have been given an 'Asbo yellow card', warning them of their future behaviour. Yesterday, Asbo co-ordinator Colin Peake said the hunt was the first in the country to be dealt with using Asbo powers, but it wouldn't set a precedent for other hunts.
"Hunting is a very emotive subject at this time and while the residents put forward a compelling case to seek an anti-social behaviour order, it was recognised that the prime object being sought was to ensure that hounds would not enter again on to property owned by residents of Elcombe who were seeking protection," said Mr Peake.
"While alternative methods of seeking restraint were available, a warning notice was the most acceptable method to bring resolution.
"Accordingly, through mediation between residents and the Cotswold hunt, a practical and hopefully long-standing resolution has been achieved. In such a rural area, it is our wish that everyone can live in harmony and, following our intervention, we have requested that each party will now respect the other's wishes of how they live and more importantly how they need to remain good neighbours."
Both sides have accepted the decision by Mr Peake, and the three hunt leaders have formally accepted the warning.
Joint master Sophie George said: "The Cotswold Hunt has accepted the warning letter because it was only a warning and not a full Asbo. This all arose because one hound got lost and went on their land."
http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayN...Node=146064&contentPK=14242415&folderPk=69655

Stroud News & Journal 29.3.06
Asbo warnings for huntsmen
by James Davis
WARNINGS about anti-social behaviour are usually given to noisy neighbours, drunks and tearaway teenagers.
But this week three members of the Cotswold Hunt - the first in the country to be investigated under the Anti-social Behaviour Act - were handed warning notices and told to keep their hounds under control.
The news has been welcomed by Elcombe residents Jeanne Berry and Denise Ward, who last month spearheaded an appeal for an ASBO to be imposed on the hunt after its hounds ran onto their land without permission on several occasions.
"Hopefully this will be an end to it and we will get a quiet life from now on," said Mrs Berry.
The decision was made after separate meetings were held with Elcombe villagers and the Andoversford-based hunt to discuss the complaints.
Colin Peake, anti-social behaviour co-ordinator at Stroud District Council, said: "While alternative methods of seeking restraint were available, a warning notice was the most acceptable method to bring resolution."
Warning notices were imposed on the hunt's senior master, Bob Cooper, and two joint masters.
"We will do everything in our power to prevent it even if that means sending someone off in front to stop the hounds from trespassing," said Mr Cooper.
"We don't have a problem with any landowner sending us a letter and a map asking us not to go on their land.
"People think we just jump on our horses and go wherever we want but we are restricted by the law and know exactly where we can and cannot go."
A spokesman for the League Against Cruel Sports welcomed the warning notice.
"Each week during the hunting season we receive many reports of hunts trespassing on people's land, terrorising their animals and livestock and causing havoc," he said.

 

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Wilts & Glos Standard 5.4.06
'Anti-social' hunt served warning
by Jenni Silver
THE Cotswold hunt this week became the first hunt in the country to have an anti-social behaviour 'warning notice' served on it.
A 'warning notice' is often seen as the first step towards an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) and is usually reserved for nuisance neighbours and teenage tearaways.
But, after numerous complaints from villagers living in Elcombe about the Cotswold Hunt trespassing on private land, the decision was made to serve the notice.
Originally residents had complained to Gloucestershire police but after a referral to the Crown Prosecution Service it was found there was no evidence to bring a prosecution.
A meeting was then held to establish whether an ASBO could be served on the hunt for entering private land and causing harassment, alarm or distress.
Bob Cooper, master of the Cotswold Hunt, said: " We cover 250 square miles. We are not concerned at all. We haven't been to Elcombe for 30 years and in October our hounds came off the trail and onto a fox scent and went into that area.
"We are law abiding, if someone doesn't want us on their land we don't go. This warning letter is no different to those we receive from a lot of people. We wouldn't dream of going somewhere we are not welcome."
Speaking on behalf of Stroud District Council and the police, who issued the warning, Stroud anti-social behaviour co-ordinator Colin Peake said: "Hunting is a very emotive subject at this time and whilst residents put forward a compelling case to seek an ASBO, it was recognised that the prime object being sought was to ensure that hounds would not enter again onto property owned by those residents of Elcombe, who were seeking protection.
"In such a rural area it is our wish that everyone can live in harmony and following our intervention, we have requested that each party will now respect the others wishes of how they live and more importantly how they need to remain good neighbours."
The move to issue a warning notice was welcomed by the League Against Cruel Sports, spokesman Wanda Wyporska said: "I hope that members of the Cotswold Hunt realise the full importance of this action.
"They have been warned in no uncertain terms about their future behaviour.
"Hunts around the country will no doubt be distressed at this action. There can be no doubt that this maybe the first of many."
Earlier this year the Cotswold Hunt hit the headlines when two hounds taking part in a trail hunt were hit by cars when they strayed onto the A417 at Daglingworth.

 

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Independent on Sunday 18.11.07
'Suddenly, we heard a bloodcurdlingsnarling, uproar in the undergrowth'
After her village was terrorised by a pack of rampaging hounds, and their equally aggressive owners, Denise Ward decided to fight back. Here, she explains how she served an Asbo warning on her local hunt
Published: 18 November 2007
The first time it happened was around two years ago, in mid-November. It was a beautiful day and a small group of us had got together in the hamlet. I was chatting to my elderly neighbour when we all heard a terrible noise. It was a bloodcurdling, snarling uproar – as if some wild animals were smashing about in the undergrowth.
A deer came crashing down through all the gardens in the hamlet, pursued by baying hounds. It leapt along the lane past a resident it was too terrified to notice, and back up again into the woods just behind my neighbours' house, where it ran frantically up and down the slope, crashing noisily around with the hounds close behind.
As we stood there helplessly, they caught it. It screamed piteously and we could hear the hounds savaging it in loud and hideous detail. It was horrific. It was so sudden and so violent it was like a car crash. No one knew what to do; we all just stood there.
The next thing we knew, several hounds burst out of the woods into the village. They were frenetic and rampaging around. We've all got pets, and were immediately fearful for them; the hounds were out of control and we didn't know what else they were looking to kill. I'm used to animals – I've got a horse and we work with cows – but these dogs were hunting; they were like something else.
We found out later that the hunt master had lost control of the pack and the hounds had run on to the nature reserve next to our village – an open hill popular with dog-walkers and families where hunting is not allowed.
One of my neighbours managed to catch two of the dogs and tie them up. Shortly afterwards, the hunt people came out in a Land Rover, looking for their dogs. The hunt master was incredibly rude and dismissive; the only reason they even bothered to speak to us was because we had two of their dogs. I tried to explain how dreadful and frightening it had been to hear an animal being killed like that. They had no comprehension of what I was talking about. We told them it was private land, but one of them said, "Tell me who your leader is", as if we were a tribe. The hunt master kept coming closer to me until their face was within an inch of mine, "If you appoint a leader, we'll tell them when we are coming and that way you can put all your animals away." Meanwhile, another hunter was brandishing a horn. I knew at that point we had to be very careful. They didn't even bother discussing the hunting ban; they claim they are trail-hunting (see box), and that's how they get around it. We called the police but they never came. Hunt calls are apparently a low priority.
We wanted to make sure they never came back, so on the advice of a solicitor, 10 householders in the hamlet sent a formal letter to the hunt explicitly forbidding entry on to the land. They didn't respond. It turns out we were wasting our time. A couple of months later, on a peaceful February morning, the whole hound pack exploded into the village. They were in full cry. The noise was terrifying, something you cannot imagine unless you have been close to a pack of baying hounds. We leapt to the window. Twenty to 30 hounds were in the village, streaming up our neighbours' driveway. They milled around the house, spreading over the garden before exploding into action again. It was clear from the noise that they were chasing something and when they got up the slope behind the houses, uproar broke out. This time the cries sounded like a smaller animal, but as a stag then roared in distress, we feared it could again be a deer. Sick with the apprehension that I would find either the remains of a village pet or a mangled deer, I climbed up to look but the hounds had gone and there were only splashes of blood.
Quite a few people I know stay in during the hunt season. There's a man on the Isle of Wight who stays in every Wednesday and Saturday when the hunt is on. His wife and grandson were outside in the back garden and the hound pack – again out of control – came over his hedge. The woman managed to grab the baby just in time. Last season a fox, followed by hounds, came rampaging through a children's Halloween party in a public garden near Taunton. And one woman had her pet terrier skinned alive in front of her face by hounds. Her story was in the news until they offered her compensation, along with a gagging clause. That's a common strategy. There is a strong sense of the old rural hierarchies and power structures going on and people are afraid to speak out. The police don't do anything; they claim the laws are unenforceable. The hunt only has to say it was an accident and that's it.
After the second invasion we decided we needed to do something. Getting a civil-law injunction against hunt trespass, the only legal tool available, is not only expensive (it costs around £10,000), but also difficult to obtain. It was my neighbour who suggested an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (Asbo). It sounds a bit unusual but Asbos are related to repeated, anti-social behaviour. We read the legislation and realised it fitted our case in every way. By massive, concerted effort, the residents of my hamlet managed to get an Asbo warning served on the hunt. This was achieved because we are an articulate group of people demanding protection with the support of our MP. Initially the Asbo officer, a retired policeman, was horrified at the thought of giving an Asbo to the master of the hunt, but he found that we had a "compelling" case and went out on a limb for us. The warning was issued to three hunt masters, so this caused a bit of a ripple locally.
If we have another incident, it will be grounds for instigating a full Asbo, which would go on their record. But their attitude and the fact that they can't control their dogs means we still don't feel totally safe. No one in a hunting area is.
This is especially sad for me, because I love the autumn, and here, with the beech woods, it is especially beautiful. But for me, it is now tainted. The hunts are out several times a week. Even if they don't come here I know they are somewhere – and I know what they are doing. I know the suffering that is being caused and I know that the law in this country is not working. *
Hunts and the law
Why the ban isn't working
The ban on fox-hunting came into force in February 2005, when it was made a criminal offence for groups to hunt a wild mammal with dogs.
The first successful private prosecution under the new law took place this year when Tony Wright, of the Exmoor Foxhounds, was found guilty of hunting a wild mammal with a dog.
However, the Hunting Act 2004 does not stop hunts using two hounds to follow a scent to flush out a fox. Nor is it an offence to then shoot the fox.
These loopholes have been fully exploited by many members of Britain's hunting community, and it is estimated that around 25,000 days of hunting have been carried out by about 300 hunts since the ban.
Some hunts lay artificial trails for their hounds, using a rag soaked with a scent that is dragged ahead by "trail layers", while others have invested in golden eagles and eagle owls to exploit falconry clauses in the Act.
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (Asbos) can be brought against those involved in hunts. Introduced by the government in 1998, Asbos are made against people who have engaged in anti-social behaviour defined as "conduct which caused or was likely to cause alarm, harassment, or distress to one or more persons". An Asbo warning is the last step before a full Asbo. Breaching an Asbo is a criminal offence.
Robert Verkaik
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article3167759.ece