Famous ospreys entangled in fishing line

The famous Speyside ospreys at the Loch Garten sanctuary were last night facing disaster after both adult birds became entangled in discarded fishing tackle.

The male bird Odin was yesterday trailing around 40ft of line while its mate EJ had a 6in length lodged in her beak.

Options for removing the lines are currently being explored but there is real concern for the future of the three recently-hatched chicks in the nest if the parents cannot provide regular food.

Richard Thaxton, RSPB Loch Garten Osprey Centre manager said: “Everything was going brilliantly but unfortunately this has real potential to ruin this year’s osprey season.

“It’s vital that anglers don’t leave discarded fishing tackle lying around, especially at this time of year, as Odin and his offspring are now in real danger.

“He could become entangled on almost anything and we’re really worried about him bringing food back to the nest and the potential consequences.

“We’re considering ways to safely catch him and disentangle him without too much risk as this may be a better option than leaving him to get stuck somewhere while on a fishing trip.”

Discarded fishing line poses a significant threat to ospreys, as these flying anglers rely on some of the same lochs for food that humans use for recreational fishing.

Another male osprey disappeared within the last fortnight after being seen entangled in discarded line at another nest near Aberfoyle, and the nesting attempt there subsequently failed.

The drama can be followed by visiting http://www.rspb.org.uk/ lochgartenlive

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1238742

Badger diggers arrested

A BLOOD sport swoop saw three men arrested in Northumberland.

The Operation Seal inquiry was set up jointly between Northumbria Police and the RSPCA’s special operations unit. It followed an intelligence-led operation into badger baiting and cock fighting in Northumberland.

The operation also investigated the baiting of other protected animals with dogs.

Search warrants were executed at three houses in the Lynemouth, Blyth and Whitfield areas of Northumberland under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and the Animal Welfare Act .

Three men, one aged 32 and two 21-year-olds, were arrested. Police said a number of items, believed to be connected with badger baiting, had been seized.

All three have been released on police bail pending further inquiries. Northumberland Area Command wildlife crime officer PC Andy Swinburne said: “Wildlife crime will not be tolerated and if someone sees offences occurring they should report it to Northumbria Police immediately.

“We would also ask that anyone who may have information about people committing wildlife crime to contact us and ask for their local wildlife crime officer.’’

Badger baiting is a brutal blood sport dating back to Victorian times and involves flushing a badger out of its sett and watching as a dog or pack of dogs attack it.

Baiters have been known to use transmitters to track the badgers and then dig them out of their setts.

After the badger has been killed, either by dogs, being stabbed or being battered with a spade, it is often placed at the side of road in an attempt to make it look like road-kill.

An estimated 10,000 badgers are killed every year by baiting and digging.

Earlier this year badger groups from across the North held a conference on Teesside because of the scale of illegal activities.

It was told that persecution of badgers is rife in the region.

In November last year Justin Lang and Christopher Hindmarsh were banned from keeping dogs for three years by Alnwick magistrates due to their badger baiting.

Hindmarsh, 28, of Alwinton Square, and Lang, 24, of Norham Road, both Ashington, were also ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work.

Christopher Hindmarsh (28) of Alwinton Square, and Justin Lang (24) of Norham Road, both Ashington, Northumberland,

The pair, both unemployed, admitted three counts of interfering with a badger sett.

Hindmarsh also admitted a further charge of attempting to kill, injure or take a badger.

Police found footage on Hindmarsh’s mobile phone of a badger being attacked by a dog. Lang had footage on his phone of a fox being attacked by terriers.

The defendants were each given a 12-month community order and ordered to abide by a three-month curfew.

As part of their present investigation, police are keen to trace a black terrier-like dog answering to the name Brock from the Lynemouth area.

Anyone with information on the dog or its whereabouts is asked to contact their local wildlife crime officer.

Wildlife crime will not be tolerated and if someone sees offences they should report it.

http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2009/05/29/operation-seal-inquiry-snares-three-north-men-61634-23737611/

Gamekeeper at Balmoral on trial over badger traps

Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent

One of the Queen’s gamekeepers at Balmoral is being prosecuted for wildlife offences after two badgers were killed by snares laid on the estate. Robbie Elliot is to appear at Stonehaven sheriff court next month. He has been accused under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 of failing to properly check the snares, an offence which carries a maximum penalty of a £10,000 fine or 12 months in jail.

It is understood the badgers were found in May last year, trapped in snares in a forested area of the Highland estate near Birkhall, the Scottish summer holiday home of the Prince of Wales.

Gamekeepers are legally required to check snares every 24 hours. Elliot, 45, has denied the charges of failing to do so at earlier hearings.

Originally bought for the royal family by Prince Albert, Birkhall was inherited by Prince Charles from the Queen Mother, and in 2005 he spent his honeymoon there with the Duchess of Cornwall.

A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace confirmed that Elliot was suspended last year after the incident came to light, but had since returned to duty. “Due to the time factor and the business of the estate his suspension was lifted, pending the outcome of the prosecution,” she said.

Last year, the then Scottish environment minister, Mike Russell, rejected calls from animal rights groups for snares to be banned, claiming they were valuable for controlling predators such as rats, stoats and foxes. But he announced plans for tougher legislation to control their use, including identification tags on snares, catches to stop them closing too tightly and restrictions on placing them where they could cause unnecessary suffering.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/25/gamekeeper-balmoral-prosecuted-wildlife-traps

H&M boss and shooting estates

From The Sunday Times

The Swedish owner of H&M is developing a taste for English country life and it’s costing £25m

Lucy Denyer and Helen Davies

THE Swedish billionaire owner of H&M, the high street fashion giant, is poised to buy an entire English village and up to 2,000 acres of surrounding countryside for £25m.

Stefan Persson, Sweden’s second richest man, is snapping up the Linkenholt estate near Andover, Hampshire, following a bidding war in the depths of the recession.

It is the second English country estate bought by Persson, 61, who already owns 8,500 acres in neighbouring Wiltshire, where he hosts partridge and pheasant shoots.

His latest purchase will give him a taste of the influence once enjoyed by Britain’s aristocrats. On top of a sizable manor house, Linkenholt includes 1,500 acres of farmland, a 425-acre wood, a cricket ground and 21 dwellings leased to villagers, some of whom have lived there from birth.

Since the 1970s, it has been run by a charitable trust after its last owner, Herbert Blagrave, an entrepreneur, died without leaving any children.

As a viable business – with rents ranging from about £500 a month for a small cottage to £3,500 for the manor house, to say nothing of lucrative shooting rights – the trust put Linkenholt on the market in March.

Persson, whose wealth is estimated at £11.4 billion, securing him joint 16th place in The Sunday Times World Rich List, is believed to have had an offer accepted at the top end of the £23m-£25m guide price.

Solicitors have been instructed within the past fortnight, but contracts have yet to be exchanged, according to property industry sources.

An estate agent familiar with the deal named Persson as the buyer, adding: “He knows the area and likes it – this will be the icing on the cake of his portfolio.”

Ironically, the H&M boss is rumoured to have been bidding against Claas Bourghardt, another wealthy Swedish businessman who has rented the manor house for several years.

The new owner of the estate, which lies in a designated area of outstanding natural beauty an hour’s drive from London, is notoriously media-shy.

Persson was last in the public eye in 2005 when he cancelled Kate Moss’s modelling contract with H&M following allegations about her drug use.

The fashion tycoon, who counts the King and Queen of Sweden among his closest friends, spends most of his time in Stockholm.

However, he also owns a £9m country estate near Marlborough in Wiltshire. Through its grounds flows a mile of the River Kennet, regarded as one of the country’s best trout fishing areas, where anglers pay £1,700 for an annual permit.

Earlier this year, the Environment Agency reportedly spent £53,000 of public money raising the river bed in a move that will improve the quality of the fishing for Persson’s guests.

H&M, or Hennes & Mauritz, was founded by Persson’s father, Erling, in 1947, and has more than 1,800 stores across the world. Its competitive pricing and affordable collections by guest designers such as Matthew Williamson have allowed H&M to buck the downturn.

This weekend a spokeswoman said Persson did not wish to comment on the sale.

Some believe his son Karl-Johan, who lives in west London with his wife Leonie, could benefit from his father’s latest investment. The main house at Linkenholt, which appeared in the Domesday Book, burnt down in 1905 and was rebuilt.

Last week residents were curious about the new lord of the manor. Betty Smith was born in the village in 1931 and was among the last to go to the local school, which closed during the war. From the age of 14, she worked her way up from maid to cook at the house, while her husband Alan worked on the farm. The couple have been given a lifetime guarantee on their terraced home that came with their jobs.

“Do you know who it is who’s bought it?” asked Smith. When told about Persson by The Sunday Times, she nodded: “I heard Swedish too.”

Smith looks after the church (which was not included in the sale) while her sister Elsie minds the cricket ground.

Now, with so many people travelling out of the village for work these days, it is quieter than it was in the 1940s.

WHAT YOU GET FOR £25M
Edwardian-style manor house

1,500 acres of farmland

425-acre wood

21 cottages

Cricket pitch

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article6350238.ece

Otis Ferry walks free thanks to puppy plea

From Times Online

The pro-hunting campaigner Otis Ferry walked free from court today after claiming that he had only got involved in a skirmish with hunt monitors because of the recent theft of his puppy by animal rights activists.

Ferry, 26, the son of the Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry, was given a one-year conditional discharge for causing “fear, stress and upset” to a woman who tried to film him riding with a hunt.

Ferry was released with a £350 fine and £100 costs by a judge at Gloucester Crown Court. He had already served four months on remand.

George Cox QC, defending, revealed that two weeks before the incident near Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, Ferry’s Jack Russell, named Tiny, had been taken by anti-hunting protesters.

Mr Cox blamed the “distressing” theft of Tiny for the fact that Ferry had become involved in a “tug of war” for his victim’s car keys, leaving her bruised.

The incident, in November 2007, began after Ferry had ridden to the aid of fellow hunt supporter John Deutsch whose Subaru was being held up as he was trying to get help for a sick horse.

Ferry first came to public attention in 2004 when he was one of eight pro-hunting campaigners who staged a protest on the floor of the Commons during debate on the hunting ban. The following year he was bundled away by police after accosting the then Prime Minister Tony Blair at the National Portrait Gallery.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6344611.ece

Huntsman Ferry fined over dispute

Otis Ferry has been fined £350 and given a one-year conditional discharge after admitting a public order offence at a hunt in Gloucestershire.

Ferry was charged with affray, robbery and assault after a dispute with two hunt monitors near Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, in November 2007.

The 26-year-old’s not guilty pleas to those charges were accepted at Gloucester Crown Court on Friday.

Ferry, son of Roxy Music singer Bryan, refused to comment as he left court.

Ferry, the joint master of the South Shropshire Hunt, had earlier been accused intimidating a witness in the case and spent four months on remand.

That charge was later dropped.

“People have to peacefully co-exist no matter what their differing view and opinions ” Judge Martin Picton
The dispute with the hunt protesters happened when Ferry, from Eaton Mascott in Shropshire, was a guest of the Heythrop Hunt, which covers Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

Defence barrister George Cox QC told the court that Ferry’s Jack Russell had been taken by anti-hunting protesters two weeks before the incident.

“Mr Ferry is somewhat in the public eye and a well-known supporter of hunting,” he told the court.

“He is therefore often the subject of attention from those who disagree with hunting on principle.”

Judge Martin Picton said Ferry had caused “fear, stress and upset” to the protesters.

Sentencing him, the judge said: “Those who object to hunting are entitled to go about that process of objection lawfully, just as much as someone engaged in hunting is entitled to practise it in a lawful way.

“People have to peacefully co-exist no matter what their differing view and opinions.”

Fellow hunt supporter John Deutsch, 55, was also fined £350 after admitting affray. Both men were ordered to pay £100 costs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/8064189.stm

Man pleads guilty in dog fighting case

View Video – WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS DISTRESSING SCENES OF A DEAD DOG

John Knibbs pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to animals.

A ‘DOG lover’ who pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to dogs has been banned from owning any animal.

John Knibbs, 45, of Harrowby Hall Estate, Grantham, pleaded guilty to five charges at Grantham Magistrates Court on Monday, including failing to prevent two Presa Canarias dogs he owned from fighting and owning equipment in connection with dog fighting.

The prosecution followed a raid on Mr Knibbs’ home in April of last year, during which RSPCA inspectors also found a dead bull terrier discarded in a bin. The bdog had died from malnutrition.

RSPCA Inspector Andy Bostock was part of the team who raided Mr Knibbs’ home.

Describing the scene, he said: “There were a huge number of dogs kept in cages. The discovery of the dead dog kept in a dust bin was particularly sickening.

“The scene was not indicative of belonging to someone who loved animals. A number of the dogs had suffered injuries which had not been treated adequately.”

The court was told how RSPCA inspectors had discovered a breaking stick used to separate fighting dogs, dog fighting books and DVDs, weighing scales and medication to treat injured animals.

However, there was no evidence Mr Knibbs had ever participated in organised dog fighting.

Mr Turner, defending, told the court how Knibbs has a history of caring for animals.

He said: “Mr Knibbs has rescued approximately 40 greyhounds over the years. The defendant loves dogs.”

However, faced with the evidence, district judge Richard Blake refused to accept this was the case.

He said: “It is apparent to me that two of the dogs had clearly been caused unnecessary suffering. A real lover of dogs would have prevented this suffering.”

He added: “Anyone who loved an animal would not have kept it rotting in a bin.”

Knibbs also admitted owning five pit bull terriers which are banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

Knibbs was sentenced to 22 weeks in prison. He is already serving time for other offences.

He is banned from keeping or owning any animal indefinitely. He must wait at least 10 years to appeal the ban.

In summing up, judge Blake said: “I see in your conduct a cynical disregard for animals.”

The five pit bull dogs were destroyed soon after the raid as they are considered dangerous animals by law.

The two Presa Canarias dogs are currently being cared for in private kennels and the RSPCA hopes to find a new home for them in the next month.

Hare courser pleads guilty

A MORECAMBE man who illegally hunted a hare with dogs for pleasure has been ordered to pay nearly £3,000.

Robert MacIntyre, of St Patrick’s Walk in Heysham, pleaded guilty at Preston Magistrates’ Court after he was spotted by a member of the public releasing two lurcher-type dogs to chase a hare on farmland on Bradshaw Lane, Eagland Hill, Preston on November 23 2008.

MacIntyre, 22, was fined £350 and ordered to pay £2,500 costs plus a £15 victim surcharge. He was also ordered to forfeit all hunting-related materials in his possession.

At the same hearing, a Lancaster man pleaded guilty to failing to meet the needs of a lurcher-type puppy.

Zachary Robinson-O’Connor, 23, of Barley Cop Lane, Lancaster, was fined £350 and ordered to pay £5,000 costs plus a £15 victim surcharge.

He was banned from keeping dogs for two years, deprived of keeping the three lurcher-type dogs formerly in his care and ordered to forfeit all hunting-related materials in his possession.

Information gathered by the RSPCA and police led to a raid on both men’s properties on December 8 2008, where a lurcher-type puppy was found to be living in its own filth in an unventilated garage next to Robinson-O’Connor’s home.

Hunting paraphernalia, including rabbit carcasses, terrier locator collars, maps, lamps, spotlights and books and DVDs on hunting and lamping were seized from both men’s homes, together with mobile phones, a laptop, and cameras.

Magistrates were told both men were sorry for what had happened and realised they had done wrong.

RSPCA inspector Simon Small said: “The sentence handed down in this case reflects the serious nature of the offences and serves to show that illegally hunting down animals for pleasure cannot and will not be tolerated.

“Similarly, keeping a young animal in a filthy, unventilated environment without thought or regard for its welfare is both unthinkable and unacceptable.”

http://www.thevisitor.co.uk/morecambe-news/Animal-cruelty-brings-big-fines.5254927.jp

Harewood House estate angrily denies ‘animal death pit’ allegations

By Mark Casci
Agricultural Correspondent

ALLEGATIONS of animal cruelty at a Yorkshire estate have been strenuously denied by its managers after an animal rights organisation accused it of the “systematic slaughter of wildlife”.

Harewood House has furiously rejected claims made by the League Against Cruel Sports that it was engaged in the persecution of wildlife and was in breach of industry codes of practice.

In its War on Wildlife report, published today, the league cla

ims its investigators found more than 100 rotting animal carcasses in what it describes as a “death pit” on the estate. Among the animals found caught up in the so-called “death pit” were foxes, squirrels, pigeons and rabbits. The league claims the pit was being used as bait for foxes and other passing predators to lure them to their death.

But Christopher Ussher, resident land agent for the estate, said it was standard practice for all landowners to bury any dead animals they came across and branded the league’s allegations, which date back to autumn 2008, as “scurrilous”.

He said: “We are simply horrified that they have made these accusations. Had any allegation of malpractice been brought to my attention I would have investigated it and anyone found to be involved in it would have been disciplined in the strongest terms. All employees are issued with contracts stipulating what you can and cannot do, following the code of practice laid down by Defra.”

The league claims to have found drag snares on the estate. These are in breach of the shooting industry’s own guidelines. But Mr Ussher denied that such snares are used at Harewood, and said all game keepers are issued with clear instructions not to use them. He said he was particularly affronted following the hard work at Harewood in recent years to improve it as a wildlife habitat.

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Harewood-House-estate-angrily-denies.5253486.jp

Hare coursers hit with huge bill after raids

lurcher-type puppy was found to be living in its own filth

By Stef Hall, Crime Reporter

Two men arrested during an RSPCA investigation into hare coursing in Lancashire have been ordered to pay thousands of pounds in costs and fines.

Police and RSPCA officers mounted a probe following calls from farmers around Out Rawcliffe and Winmarleigh, near Garstang, who reported an increase in illegal hunting.

One of the defendants, Robert MacIntyre, was seen by a member of the public releasing two lurcher-type dogs to pursue a hare on farmland in Bradshaw Lane, Eagland Hill, in Pilling, on November 23 last year.

Further information gathered by the RSPCA and police led to a raid on both his and co-defendant Zachary Robinson-O’Connor‘s properties on December 8, 2008.

A lurcher-type puppy was found to be living in its own filth in an unventilated garage adjacent to Robinson-O’Connor’s home in Lancaster.

Hunting paraphernalia, including rabbit carcasses, terrier locator collars, maps, lamps, spotlights and books and DVDs on hunting and lamping were seized from both men’s homes, together with mobile phones, a laptop, and cameras.

McIntyre was ordered by Preston magistrates to pay £5,000 towards the boarding costs of his three dogs after they were seized from appalling conditions.

The 22-year-old, of St Patrick’s Walk, Heysham, near Morecambe, was found guilty of hunting a wild mammal with a dog during the court hearing on Friday.

He was ordered to pay a £350 fine and £15 victims’ surcharge along with £2,500 court costs.

Robinson-O’Connor, 22, of Barley Cop Lane, Lancaster, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a lurcher-type puppy.

He has to pay a £350 fine and £15 surcharge and boarding costs of £5,000. The court also ordered the confiscation of his hunting tackle, including nets and two electronic locators for ferrets and terriers, and the animal remains.

Magistrates also ordered three dogs to be confiscated from Robinson-O’Connor, who is banned from keeping or controlling dogs for two years.

During the raids, police and RSPCA officers seized two lurchers, money and several hare carcasses – trophies – from Barley Cop Lane.

In mitigation, magistrates were told both men were sorry for what had happened.

Insp Simon Small, from the RSPCA, said “The sentence handed down in this case reflects the serious nature of the offences and serves to show that illegally hunting down animals for pleasure cannot and will not be tolerated.

“Hare coursing causes untold suffering to the animals involved and is an ongoing problem in north Lancashire.

“Similarly, keeping a young animal in a filthy, unventilated environment without thought or regard for its welfare is both unthinkable and unacceptable.

“The sentence handed out fits the crime.

“It was a serious offence which had an impact on the rural community because the dogs were running about at a time when lambing was going on – which can cause stillbirth.

“It is illegal to hunt with dogs in this way and if people continue to do so they will face the full force of the law.”

Anyone who has witnessed any wildlife-related criminal activity can contact police on 08451 253545.

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Hare-coursers-hit-with-huge.5254605.jp