MEET ; Middle Farm, Fifehead Magdalen
Leaving the meet just after 11.30am the hunt headed north along Fifehead Hill and went in to fields south of Townsend farm. This farm is owned by the Gould’s and he is the contractor for the North Dorest badger Cull zone.
With a rather inadequate male driver refusing to pull in so we could pass each other a foot team hopped out the Landy and walked up the road to the footpath by the Manor. With a good vantage point the sabs monitored the hounds whilst Mark “juggz” Doggrell cast the hounds through a small copse and hedgerows. One of the hounds were filmed chasing a ram and the whip had to stop it.
The hounds were gathered and taken South, foot sabs were soon back at the Landy and dropped in on a footpath west of Trill Bridge. At the top of this footpath there was a chicken pen with numerous dead crows hanging from the fence in various stages of decay. Foot sabs were soon met with the usual hunt supporters that were parked down this track and insisting it wasn’t a footpath. The footpath was actually 5 or 6 paces across the field where crops were growing and sabs pointed out that standing amongst crops 5 steps away didn’t make sense when we could stand on a track. Eventually they got bored and turned their attention back to the hunt in the hopes of seeing a fox ripped apart.
With limited access a Sab went back to the Landy to be dropped further along the road. The foot team made their way south away from the support and down the footpath towards the school. As they got about halfway along this path, the hounds went into cry and a sab starting filming the hounds. The bearded psycho terrier man came down on his quad and wrongly accused sabs of not being on the footpath. He turned his attention to one female sab and became increasingly aggressive towards her. He got off his quad and put his hand up to block the view and then grabbed the camcorder twisting it with such force it broke the strap and injured her hand and wrist. At the same time he tied to grab her mobile phone she was using to map read, again with such force it snapped the metal clip on the lanyard it was attached to but she managed to keep hold of her phone. The sab tried to grab the camcorder back but the bearded psycho pushed her away, ran round the back of his quad, jumped on it and rode off. Shortly after Mark Doggrell rode past and the sab told him her camcorder has been stolen, he found this amusing and smirked before riding off. The whip came along next and was informed that the terrier boy had been very aggressive and had stolen our camcorder. He seemed to take the incident seriously and said he would have a word with him. However, due to the severity of the incident and with no camcorder we called the police and this foot team made their way back to the waiting Landy.
Observing the hounds from the Landy on a road by Strangeways Farm a sab saw a fox break cover and head East. No more than 2 minutes later the hounds were on the line of this fox. We made quick speed to Cale Bridge and the police appeared whilst the hounds were in full cry. sabs told the whip the police were there and he pulled the hounds off, meanwhile having not seen the police, the huntsman urged them on. Eventually the hounds were stopped and turned back in the opposite direction. Fox saved ! Sabs spoke to the whip and he said he had stopped the hounds and when asked where today’s trail went he answered “where the fox went” !! Very soon the hounds went into cry again and we think that was on the heel line of the fox.
This line took them back to an area North of Factory Farm. After a good search of this area the hunt headed back to Cale Bridge where the fox had stopped earlier. They headed south to West Mill Farm. It was here that a policeman was waiting in the area to question the bearded psycho terrier boy about the theft. As he drove past on his quad he was stopped and spoken to by the police. All we can say at the moment about this is that Dorset Police are taking this matter seriously and we will update you on this matter. The two other terrier thugs were there and one of them had a spade and terriers on board. The terrier boys didn’t really like us taking photos of the quads and asked if we had read the hunting Act !!
The hunt crossing the road, whilst the police were questioning the bearded psycho was a sight to behold ! The terrier boys got twitchy when we starting taking photos of their quads, they said it wasn’t our property to take photos of !! We have asked the question many times and as we know they like to have a cheeky read of our hit reports we will ask again …. You say you need the spades to repair the fences … what do the terriers do, fetch the fence posts ??? It’s fair to say the bearded psycho sabbed his own hunt by attracting the police attention today. He has also brought the BSV Hunt into disrepute but to be frank we don’t believe they really care about that !!
After heading to Priors Farm the huntsman kept the hounds in the wooded area whilst the whip waited on the road. The police were also parked on the road and we believe that is why the hunt remained hidden up in the wood for over half an hour. In fact it was only when the police car drove off that they started moving again and this time in the direction of Grays Farm. The Landy dropped foot sabs in at Gray’s Farm which had a footpath running through it. The hounds, horses and all the foot support were gathered in this farm buildings trying to decide where they could go that they could at least pretend they were on a trail now the police were present. Whilst the humans were pondering where to go the hounds were in the slurry pit and came past sabs covered in muck !! It’s safe to say the field master was very angry and spent some time arguing with sabs that they weren’t on a footpath – even pointing out the footpath sign didn’t convince him !! The farmer came out and said the slurry pit was in the way of the footpath and had been for 30 years – funny how we were getting grief for not being on a footpath that was not actually walkable – but as per usual double standards came into play !!
Eventually the hounds and hunt headed North along Shipney Lane with the huntsman casting the hounds through hedgerows but all under the watchful eye of the Sabs and the police who had maintained a presence.
The Hunt emerged onto Landshire Lane where the hound van was waiting and they packed up at 3.50pm. They all looked thoroughly defeated …. not only did they not kill today but their terrier thug, the bearded psycho, scored an own goal and sabbed them with a police presence.
Video footage to follow.
If you are thinking about making a stand for our wildlife, now is as good a time as any – please send us a PM or email or dorsethuntsabs@riseup.net and come and make a huge difference !