The Cotswold Vale hunt today attacked 3 people, one of them a woman in her sixties, during their final hunting day of the season.
The first attack involved a motorist who they claimed had hit one of their hounds on the B4213 near Apperley, Gloucestershire. One of the hunt terrier men punched him in the face despite witnesses saying he had not hit the animal. Later in the day they attacked a mother and son who were unhappy that the hunt were trespassing on their land. A group of twelve men kicked the son to the ground and then attacked his mother when she tried to help him.
Hunt saboteurs who witnessed the attack called the police and an ambulance. One member of the hunt has been arrested and another is being sought by the police.
Lee Moon, spokesperson for the Hunt Saboteurs association, stated: “For years the Cotswold Vale have been assaulting hunt saboteurs. It is very worrying to see they have escalated their level of violence and will now attack anyone who stands in their way. They clearly believe they are above the law and we urge anyone who sees them hunting to call the police straight away rather than intervene themselves”
Note to editors:
In October 2011 a hound was killed by a lorry on the A38, whilst, claimed monitors, the Cotswold Vale were hunting illegally very close to this major route. Hunters tried to blame sabs, but, a few days later the Hunt was caught on video causing more road havoc. In February 2011, sabs claimed several of them had been subjected to a sustained and violent attack, during which a camera was stolen, by riders and foot followers, instigated by the Huntsman, Morgan. It was also asserted that, three years earlier, a female sab was smashed over the head with an iron bar and that previously a sab had been kicked unconscious, several had ribs broken and a number of video camers were stolen. In 1997, one of theHunt’s Masters was cautioned for indecently assaulting a young female sab.
