The Hunt Saboteurs Association year in review

"Given the failure of the Government to listen to the public or its MP's, the presence and actions of Hunt Saboteurs has never been so crucial to the hunted animal as it is now. Politicians and bureaucratic charities have again failed to fulfill their promises of a hunting ban. There is widespread feeling around the country that our time has come..." HSA Press Officer 10/98.

Looking back on the above quote at the end of the season it struck me immediately how true that is. As a hunt sab of many years I've always believed that the hunt sabs main aim of direct action in the killing fields is the best way to help the hunted animal here and now. This year however was special - and the reason for that was the rescue of 'Copper', the fox saved from the jaws of hounds by hunt saboteurs. Copper in himself was not special - after all saboteurs up and down the country manage to help our hunted wildlife get away with their lives on a regular basis. The difference was that this particular fox was not just captured by hunt sabs at the end of the day, but also captured on video film. This in turn made national press and TV, and helped spark a whole new debate as to whether foxes do indeed suffer the same amount of stress that the Bateson report found in hunted stags. That report in turn led to the banning of stag hunting on National Trust land - a momentous step on the road to an outright ban on bloodsports. Copper and the dedicated saboteurs that saved his life succeeded were previous years of press releases had failed - positive press came to us! Even the police seem to be learning too, with the number saboteurs arrested decreasing against previous seasons, and the police more willing to arrest the real thugs - the hunters and their followers. The 1998/9 fox hunting season brought with it some interesting incidents, and also some all too common tales of needless death. But don't just take my word for it, read all about it below!

Prior to the start of the main fox hunting season on the 1st November, hunters and saboteurs a like were faced with up to three months of early (4am!) starts as the hunts trained their new influx of hounds to hunt as part of the 'cubbing season'. It is a common misconception that hounds hunt naturally, and the new influx to the pack are taught how to behave by the older hounds whilst hunting fox cubs. The bloodsports fraternity have tried to rename this 'autumn hunting' in an attempt to sanitize the whole bloody practice of using innocent cubs for target practice. As the cubbing season drew to an end two Joint Masters of the Crawley and Horsham Foxhounds were found guilty of causing Criminal Damage to a hunt protesters vehicle, each being fined £300. Bloody rural vandals!

The main fox hunting season kicked in on the 2nd November, and within less than ten days two incidents occurred that typify so simply the unbelievable stupidity of the hunters, and the amazing successes that saboteurs can achieve. Both incidents occurred at meets of the Cheshire Forest Foxhounds, the first one involving the death of two hounds on a railway line after they were struck after crossing a high speed line in pursuit of a fox. Unbelievably, the incident occurred at the very same spot that a hound was killed in the same manner the previous year. Peter Hunter, the Master in 1997, stated at the time "it is..very rare for this to happen..I think it is of great credit to the hunt staff that this does not happen very often". The fact that it was a mirror image of what happened previously, with the terrible exception that it involved the deaths of two hounds rather than one, clearly highlighted the hunts disregard for life - whether it be fox or hound. At the time of this incident another 20 hounds had already been killed on railway lines - only 7 days into the new season. The second incident brought about quite a different result, with a fox being rescued from the hounds after they chased it into a freezing pond where it quickly got into difficulties and began sinking. A saboteur jumped into the pond, quickly brought it to the surface and rushed it immediately to a sympathetic vet. The young fox is now safe in a place where the hunters can never terrorize it again. The 19th of November saw the usual farce of 'National Beagling Day' whereby hare hunting beagle packs attempt to invite Joe Public to participate in their grand sport. Yet again this proved to be a dismal day for the hunters, with less than a handful of beagle packs brave enough to advertise for the supposed new support they craved. Despite the brown hare being named on a list of species deemed to be in decline or under threat, the self proclaimed 'guardians of the countryside' persist in their conservation' claims. They should always know that they can rely on hunt sabs to swell their numbers - see ya next year suckers!

The end of November saw sabs at a meet of the Old Surrey and Burstow FH (now relegated to the history books following amalgamation with the West Kent FH) attacked by mounted huntsmen and foot followers alike, with one sab left semi-conscious after being hit around the head with a golf club. The huntsman, Mark Bycroft, and several of the hunt followers are known to have previous criminal convictions for assaulting a saboteur in the early 1990's in what the judge described as "'a cowardly and premeditated attack".

After the usual rail deaths, fox rescue and violence reports, the only thing obviously noticeable by its absence was comedy policing...and somewhat surprisingly it wasn't the Essex police (god bless every one of 'em!) but the Surrey cops who stepped in to fill in the blanks. During mid December, despite the presence of around 60 saboteurs at one hunt, Essex police maintained a high profile yet refrained from arresting any sabs in an apparent policy change. One Officer was quoted as saying "We could have arrested about 70% of the sabs out there today, but there would have been no point - we can never get the charges to stick in court". Erm, wouldn't you normally refer to that as an acquittal, your honour??? On the same day Surrey police arrested several sabs at a meet of the Old Surrey and Burstow 'for walking along a bridleway towards the hunt' (Breach of the Peace). Another sab was pulled from a van, punched in the face by two officers, arrested for not giving his details and then du mped ('dearrested') 2 miles away on a country road - a reckless thing to do in an area teeming with hunt support. Other sabs were subjected to illegal searches and physical aggression from clearly out of control officers. Not all coppers are bad of course (!), as demonstrated by one Northamptonshire copper who managed to take a beating which was obviously meant for a sab at a meet of the Grafton FH. The foolish cop had ventured out without his fluorescent jacket, and his sensible dark clothing (although still regulation police uniform!) obviously looked too sab-like to a hunt supporting farmer, who proceeded to drop kick him to the floor and batter him round the head before being dragged off by PC Plods yellow-coated mates! Saboteurs present managed to video the attack, and have passed a copy of the tape to the police in the hope of securing a conviction against the farmer.

Boxing Day, one of the biggest days in the hunting calendar, passed by pretty much as normal. The only exception being that hunt sabs got quite a good review in the following days broadsheet papers. Even the Sunday Times managed to mention those scarcely seen words 'Hunt Saboteurs Association'! The season of goodwill - unless you happen to be a fox, hare, deer or pheasant! The relatively quiet season erupted into violence in January with two female sabs attacked at a meet of the Oakley FH by a male hunt supporter; one sab was ridden down by the huntsman and another attacked by a supporter at the Albrighton FH; and in Scotland two sabs were attacked by a stick-wielding hunt supported and their van window smashed at a meet of the Lauderdale FH. And the reason for such unprovoked attacks? Seems like hunters and supporters alike don't appreciate us ruining their day and try to frighten and intimidate us in a pathetic attempt to scare us away - not a chance! January also saw the Ministry of Defence try and stitch us up with a 'Code of Conduct' which attempted to regulate the activities of sabs on MoD land in Wiltshire, but which if adopted may have set a very dangerous precedent (see article in previous Bite Back). In short PC Coppard and all his MoD chums were told in no uncertain terms by the HSA that they would never sign such an agreement - nice to be wa nted though!

February brought us Copper the fox, and if only he could have aquainted himself with us a week later on Valentines Day, as he sure did steal the nations heart (bleurgh!). Seriously though, the Copper story brought it all together as never before - non-violent direct action saving animals on the day in the killing fields. The sabs group responsible for the rescue, the West Sussex Wildlife Protection Group, deserve major respect as an organised group who know all the tactics, manage to put them into practice, and have the guts to take a video camera into situations were it can make you a definite target. Thanks must also go to the vet who treated Copper and was prepared to face the media with his belief that the stress and exhaustion of the hunt chase would have killed the animal without treatment. Copper has now fully recovered from his ordeal and was recently released back into the wild - in an area without hunting of course! Yet even as Copper was being rescued by hunt sabs in West Sussex, a saboteur present at a meet of the South Dorset hunt was hit by a hunt supporters vehicle and suffered bad bruising and a fractured finger. Other sabs present at the time believe it to have been the intention of the driver to hit the sab. Just one week later one of the saboteurs who was instrumental in the rescue of Copper suffered a suspected fractured skull after being ridden down the a mounted follower. Following police investigations aided by saboteurs, Crawley and Horsham huntsman Andrew Phillis has been arrested and charged with ABH - the case continues. The season would not have been complete without a clear example of police arresting the very people being attacked when trouble occurs - and a recent meet of the Woodland Pytchley FH provided just this. Sabs present at the final meet of the season found themselves under attack from hunt supporters, with one attacking them with a pick-axe handle. Despite the arrival of the police during the incident, subsequently witnessing part of the attack, the officer in charge saw fit only to arrest three sabs for ABH! The whole incident was captured on video tape, a copy of which was later handed over to police so that they could see clearly who the real perpetrators where. Police are making further investigations and arrests of several known hunt supporters are expected shortly.

So there you have it, the 1998/9 season all wrapped up for you in a story of police, lies and videotape! Despite the above mention of violent attacks, these incidents represent a very small percentage of large number of sab days up and down the country. What's important is that hunt sabs and the HSA have had one of our best years ever - next year can only take us onwards and upwards. If you want to be part of fight against bloodsports please join the HSA. Your money helps us provide support to groups, produce our excellent leaflets and 'Howl' magazine, and provide a voice against all the Countryside Alliance lies. Better still, join the HSA and become an active sab!