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In his latest desperate musings, Countryside Alliance CEO Tim Bonner has been visiting summer hound shows and encouraging hunts to:
“… be as open about their trail hunting in November as they are at shows in June. They need to invite the public into the hunting field just as they ask them to meet hounds in the main ring.”
Which hunts does Tim imagine will be greeting the public with open arms at their Opening Meets in November?
Perhaps he is referring to the Blackmore & Sparkford Vale, who were recently convicted of mercilessly hunting a fox around farm buildings before tearing her to pieces. Or does he mean the Warwickshire Hunt, whose hounds were filmed disembowelling a fox – an act caught in horrifying detail. Maybe he is thinking of the Seavington Hunt, who were filmed tipping a bagged fox in front of hounds a couple of years ago and were convicted just last month of killing another fox and disposing of her broken body in a river.
If not the fox hunts, perhaps Tim is referring to the foot packs? Does he mean the Dummer Beagles or the De Burgh & North Essex Bassets, both of which were filmed openly hunting hares last season? Surely, even Tim can’t mean the Dove Valley Mink Hounds, who routinely carry a four-metre long, telescopic pole which can only be for the purpose of knocking hunted mink out of trees.
Of course, none of these hunts – or the dozens of others that hunt sabs have filmed hunting foxes, blocking badger setts or digging out – are going to start inviting the public along in November. They are going to continue what they have done since the inception of the so-called ‘trail hunting’: meet in total secrecy and show aggression and hostility to any outsiders who happen to show up.
The Countryside Alliance concocted the smokescreen of ‘trail hunting’ back in 2005. They knew it was nonsense but thought it would get them through a few years till the Tories got back in and repealed the Hunting Act – the first of many miscalculations.
And if Tim really believes that hunts are going to start inviting the public along, then he’s clearly been getting too much sun at those hound shows.
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