HSA news release 21st November 2005

The kennel huntsman of the Avonvale Fox Hounds has been arrested following an incident where hunt monitors were attacked and robbed of their video equipment.

The incident occurred when 4 hunt monitors were present at a meet of the Avon Vale fox hunt at Rowde Hill Farm, Bromham, Wiltshire on Saturday 8th October 2005.

The hunt monitors were filming the huntsman putting hounds through a patch of scrub near Craymarsh Farm, when a group of hunt supporters approached the monitors and attacked them. 1 male monitor was ridden down by a quad bike and another female monitor was attacked and struck on the neck by the mounted kennel huntsman. He then grabbed her video camera and rode off with it.

The kennel huntsman was arrested on Monday 21st November for Robbery, 6 weeks after the incident occurred. He was released on bail.

Video footage of the attack and robbery, recorded by another hunt monitor, has been passed onto police and investigations are continuing with the possibility of further arrests.

HSA spokesperson Andy Knight said ‘Hunt monitors are risking their lives to expose the truth about illegal hunting and it was great to hear that the Wiltshire police are taking these matters seriously at last.’ He added ‘This arrest will hopefully deter the pro-hunt fraternity from using violence and anti-social behaviour towards hunt monitors in the future.’

If these people have nothing to hide, why are they attacking monitors and stealing and damaging cameras?