POLICE INVESTIGATE ‘ATTACK’ ON LOCAL HUNT KENNELS

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE has been supplied by our good friends at the Hereford Heckler:

“The Ross Harriers hunt are in the media yet again this week with an article published claiming that the police are investigating an attack on their kennels, including the dumping of a dead dog on the huntsman’s driveway.

Police were called to the address in Coughton, near Ross-On-Wye last Tuesday, 19th March, to reports of criminal damage to a 4×4 belonging to the huntsman, David Lee Peters, and the death of his dog. In the article an ‘anonymous source close to the hunt’ suggests that the attack and murder of the dog was the work of animal rights activists. The initials ‘ALF’ (standing for Animal Liberation Front) were apparently scratched onto the vehicle and the source claimed that the dog was ‘beaten to death.’

Questions raised

Questions are already being raised about the validity of the claims, especially regarding the involvement of animal rights activists.

Firstly and most obviously, what motivation would activists associated with the animal rights movement have for harming a dog, let alone ‘beating it to death’ and leaving it on the huntsman’s driveway? The pro-hunting community often slander animal activists as ‘people haters’ but whatever point the activists could have wanted to make, either about hunting or about Peters himself, would vegetarian and vegan protesters who commit themselves to ending all animal exploitation (often at the risk of injury or arrest) have done something so counterintuitive and opposed to their beliefs to make this comment? Given the obvious public backlash that would follow and the condemnation and even stronger backlash from the rest of the animal rights movement, we think not!

The ‘hunt source’ in the article heavily suggests that the ALF was responsible for the attack and attempts to explain who and what the ALF is. The Animal Liberation Front is a loose collection, or more accurately concept, often attributed to those who carry out non-violent direct action in defence of animals. Over its 40 year history the ALF has rescued (or ‘liberated’) hundreds of thousands of animals from places of cruelty and exploitation (including factory farms and animal experiment labs). It has also caused £millions of financial loss to those who profit from the exploitation of animals.

In the ALF aims and guidelines, which have to be clearly adhered to for the name to be used in a direct action, it is imperatively stated that activists should:

Take all necessary precautions against harming any animal, human and non-human.

If this does not happen, then it quite simply is not an action of the ALF.

Hunt saboteurs are also mentioned in the article, as they are often active in the region close to the kennels and have previously attended meets of the Ross Harriers Hunt. Again there is the suggestion that they may have be involved in the attack, or that they and the ALF are one-and-the-same.

Hunt saboteurs also use non-violent direct action to save hunted animals. They put themselves between the hunted animal and the hunters, using scent-dulling sprays and hunting horns to mimic the huntsman and call hounds away from the hunted animal.

In the 50 years that hunt saboteurs have been active, there have been all sorts of accusations made against them by the hunting fraternity; spraying hounds with battery acid, using trip-wires to trip up horses, even bringing pre-caught foxes along and releasing them in front of hounds to prove that hunts are illegally hunting – none of which have ever been proven.

The Hunt Saboteurs Association introduction literature clearly states that saboteurs should never harm or put animals at risk, whether they are the hunted animal or animals used by the hunt. This is seen as somewhat of a golden rule by hunt saboteurs and monitors. The press officer of the Hunt Saboteurs Association commented on the incident saying:

“We simply do not engage in or condone criminal damage or any attacks on animals,”

“We engage in legal disruption of illegal hunting and we had nothing to do with this whatsoever.

“It doesn’t sound like the sort of thing the ALF would do either, killing a dog. They have been known to steal an entire pack of hounds, but they wouldn’t harm one.”

In short the murder of this innocent animal (if that is indeed what happened) is obviously a heinous crime, something that animal rights activists and hunt saboteurs would also be extremely opposed to, whoever it belonged to.

Lee Peters, pictured outside Hereford Magistrates Court. On Trial for a criminal case that lead to him being found guilty of being a racist bastard

The Ross Harriers – not so squeaky clean

It seems that the media (including, unsurprisingly, the Daily Mail) are swallowing up yet another animal rights scare story, without looking any deeper and only giving a glancing reference to the recent history of this particular hunt.

The Heckler has reported on the Ross Harriers a number of times in the recent past. In November, Peters was fined £720 by magistrates in Hereford and ordered to pay £200 compensation to a hunt saboteur he was found guilty of racially abusing during a meet at Aston Crews last January. In October a supporter of the Harriers was also found guilty of assaulting a saboteur and around this time last year members of the hunt attacked the vehicle of anti-hunt protesters and some of its occupants with an iron bar. Hardly the track record of law-abiding, non-violent and decent human beings and certainly far from the image of ‘victims’ that they appear to have gained with some.

A ‘false flag’ attack?

So with it looking extremely unlikely that the people who carried out the murder of this dog were associated with hunt saboteurs or the animal rights movement and the previous bad behaviour of the hunt examined, who could have been responsible? A number of possible (and in our opinion much more likely) explanations for the attack and who carried it out have been raised online:

It could be part of a smear campaign by the hunting community to slander hunt saboteurs and animal rights activists. Lee Peters is appealing his conviction of racially abusing a saboteur last year, and the retrial will be heard at Worcester Crown Court in the Summer. The media attention and police investigation would serve as a well timed attempt to gain public support for Peters and to discredit and put pressure on the activists who oppose him and who will presumably play a part in the case against him.

It could have been committed by somebody with a personal gripe against Peters, or another rival, local hunt. There are often bitter rivalries over hunting territory, support and finances. The pro-hunting community have also been known to dump dead foxes at the houses of hunt opponents, have killed and injured pet animals (such as dogs) and have vandalised vehicles and houses. This sounds awfully similar to the type of attack described in the article, and the ‘antis’ would make for perfect cover for such an attack.

It could have been proponents of the upcoming badger cull, which will take place in the area. The badger cull is conveniently mentioned in the article and by the hunt’s ‘anonymous source,’ without anything else suggesting that this alleged ‘ALF action’ had anything to do with the cull. By making it look like ‘animal rights extremists’ are operating in the area, the police would be forced to take more of an active interest in pursuing the animal rights activists who would oppose the cull.

The ‘ALF’ attack on the vehicle could have been an action genuinely committed by animal rights activists, with the dog being dumped (or planted) by others afterwards – the dog either dying of natural causes and being made to look like it was killed, or being killed in a more sinister manner. Again this could serve to discredit the action and the activists, by giving a scapegoat for the death and turning the media attention to what the hunting community would portray as ‘hypocritical hunt opponents.’

It is not unheard of for such ‘false flag’ attacks to happen, after all. Back in 1990 an unheard of group called the ‘British Animal Rights Society’ claimed responsibility for having attached a nail bomb to a huntsman’s Land Rover in Somerset. Forensic evidence led police to arrest the owner of the vehicle, who admitted he had bombed his own car to discredit the animal rights movement. He was jailed for nine months.

Whoever the perpetrator of the alleged attack on the Ross Harriers kennels was, we think there is more to this story than meets the eye…”

http://herefordheckler.co.uk/

WCM border medium

BLOOD-THIRSTY TOFF IN ‘ALSO A RACIST BASTARD’ SHOCKER!

WHO WOULD HAVE guessed that the same land-owning huckleberries that derive so much pleasure from the chasing and mauling of defenceless wildlife would also be out-and-out Victorian-style racists? Well, the stereotype of the landed rich as a shower of backwards, out-of-touch scum has once again been proved irrevocably correct by Lee Peters, huntsman for the Ross Harriers – a fox hunt operating in the northern extremities of the westcountry. As is the case at hunts all around the country, January of this year saw the harriers visited by their local hunt saboteurs – groups of wildlife enthusiasts who do heroic work sabotaging, monitoring and otherwise tampering with all manner of bloodsports, mainly foxhunts. Now, there has never been any love lost between hunts and saboteurs, and many a countryside outing has turned into a full-on scrap when both sides get to grips. On this occasion, Peters decided to uphold his hunt’s fine tradition of almost indiscriminate violence by riding up to the sabs as soon as they appeared, booting and whipping their van, and yelling a series of foul-mouthed threats! Not content with this, he took a peek inside the van, presumably to see what them thar city folk are wearing nowadays. Inside, along with the other saboteurs was a black female, who was obviously too much for Peters to handle. He turned to the rest of the hunt and shouted “Look, they even brought a fucking wog!” The understandably-distressed saboteur reported Peters to the fuzz, who duly arrested him. The remorseless hunt-master and his mates staunchly denied any racist remarks, even cooking up obviously pre-agreed fake stories (the fact that the hunt fraternity rallied round to defend him speaks volumes about their attitudes to racial equality). However, a local resident, out gardening, heard the whole altercation and was able to give the court enough evidence to convict Peters, slapping him with several thousand pounds of fines and court costs. It remains to be seen whether the Ross Harriers will to the right thing for once, and sack this bigot. Judging by their hobby, though, we doubt it. Sabs are out every weekend throughout the westcountry. To get involved with your local group, check out this webpage: hsa.enviroweb.org/index.php/get-involved/localgroups/243-southwest.

A CASE OF BLACK AND WHITE

UNLESS YOU’VE BEEN living in a sett for the last few months, you’ve probably heard that the government plan to undertake a badger cull in order to stop badgers giving cows T.B. Of course, no-one wants to kill badgers, but the government and the National Farmers Union claim that this is necessary; except that no one else seems to think so. Going back a few years, over 10,000 badgers were killed by scientists in order to see if culling them reduces T.B. in cattle, only to conclude that it will make “no meaningful contribution” to controlling the disease. Several studies suggest that cattle movement is the most significant cause, and that this needs to be controlled much more than badgers. Now, these very scientists, as well as conservation and animal welfare groups such as the R.S.P.B. and R.S.P.C.A., the likes of David Attenborough and Bill Oddie, a large proportion of the public, and top of all of this, a majority of M.P.s in the House of Commons, are opposed to the cull and support alternatives such as vaccination and biosecurity measures.

So, why are they trying to kill the badgers? The decision appears to be an entirely political one, as the Tories depend upon the votes of farming communities who do not want to admit that that they’ve made mistakes with cattle movement, and the increasingly low genetic pool of cattle, poor conditions and lack of biosecurity has led to an increase in susceptibility and the spread of the disease. In the words of John Bourne, the scientist who led the previous trial of badger culling: “I think the most interesting observation was made to me by a senior politician who said, ‘fine John, we accept your science, but we have to offer the farmers a carrot. And the only carrot we can possibly give them is culling badgers’”.

Anti-cull activists are therefore on the case, with pickets of supermarkets selling milk sourced from the cull zones (Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda) in Bristol and Bath throughout last month. Far be it from us to give shopping advice, but if you’re not lactose-intolerant or one of those funny vegans, you might consider heading to Co-op, Waitrose or Marks’s for your milk. Indeed, we take our hats off to Brian May and his more clandestine friends, a combination of whose e-petitions, lobbying, ‘gentle pressure’, late night sett-monitoring and prank phone calls led to not only a tough day in the office or two for new environment minister Owen Paterson, but also to M.P.s voting to delay the cull until next June!

But don’t pack up your waterproofs, maps and torches just yet – if the cull does still go ahead next year, there is plenty work to be done. Country estates (such as Forthampton Estate) and some farms are still signed up to the cull, and many badger setts have already been baited for culling, and activists are making note of these to go out and interrupt the shooting when the time comes. And campaigners are also targeting coffee shops like Starbucks and Nero, who deal with pro-cull dairies: if you would like speak to them, their details are below:

Starbucks U.K. and Ireland Media Inquiries

tel: + 44 20 8834 5164

e-mail: ukpressoffice@tarbucks.com

Caffe Nero

http://www.caffenero.com/contact/default.aspx

http://badger-killers.co.uk/

http://standingstonesblog.blogspot.co.uk/

http://badger-killers.co.uk/shoot-to-kill/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/25/badgers-wildlife

QUIT BADGERING THEM

THIS AUTUMN THE Tories plan to cull at least 70% of the badger population in two areas: one west of Taunton, and the other west of Gloucester. Despite overwhelming evidence that overcrowded farms, not badgers (or other carrier species like deer or foxes, for that matter), are to blame for the spread of Bovine T.B., Cameron – famed for his love of blasting, chasing or otherwise maiming any number of furry countryside animals – is determined to push ahead with the slaughter. The cull is being carried out by teams of marksmen waiting at bait points with high-powered rifles and shotguns. The exact location of the zones and the organisers was supposed to be kept secret, but the Coalition of Badger Action Groups (C.B.A.G.) published maps within 10 days’ of the appeal’s failure; copies of those maps can be found on their website: http://www.badger-killers.co.uk.

C.B.A.G. then began research on the cull’s organisers. The lucky winners are: Rupert Michael Dod, of Withiel Farm, Withiel Florey, Minehead, Somerset, TA24 7DE (tel: 01398 371 205; mobile: 07882 458 354; e-mail: exmoorangus@aol.com); in Gloucester, we have Jan Rowe (of Whalley Farm, Whittington, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL54 4HA; tel: 01242 820213, mobile: 07786 437235; e-mail: rowefarms@farmline.com) and Carl Gray (Grange Farm, Main Road, Bredon, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, GL20 7EL; tel: 01684 772366; mobile: 07771 985908; carl@grangefarmbredon.co.uk).

If you have any questions about the cull, please be sure to ask them politely! C.B.A.G. will be doing night patrols during the cull, with hi-viz jackets, bright torches and megaphones, to interfere with the pointless bloodshed peacefully and from a safe distance.

And on 29th September a free party sound system is rumoured to be running a full moon free party in the Gloucester zone, coinciding with the first big night of action. On the 13th of October the same will happen again, but this time during a new moon, in the Somerset zone. More details to follow.