Hunt saboteurs attack claims

Avon and Somerset police say they are investigating allegations by South West Hunt Saboteurs that they were attacked and robbed by hunt supporters.

The saboteurs claim that the incident took place on Saturday when members of the South West hunt saboteurs were out monitoring a hunt taking place on the Mendips at Ston Easton and Emborough.

Lee Moon, spokesman for the Hunt Saboteurs, said they were present at the hunt to monitor for evidence of illegal hunting and to present any such evidence to the police.

Mr Moon said: “Whilst standing on a public footpath watching the hunt, the group of eight anti-hunt protesters, made up of men and women, were approached by five vehicles whose number plates had been obscured with mud. “Approximately a dozen men jumped out of the vehicles and proceeded to attack the hunt saboteurs shouting “get the cameras”. People were punched in the face and one man had his leg repeatedly stamped on.

“The attackers did not stop until they had stolen three video cameras and one digital camera.

“Members of the anti-hunt group were left severely battered and shocked by this un-provoked and brutal attack and robbery.

“The incident has been reported to the police who are currently making enquiries.

Mr Moon added: “We are sick and tired of seeing hunts trying to portray themselves as part of the tradition and fabric of this country.

“If our traditions include violence, intimidation and robbery then perhaps they are.

” It is time the police showed these people that the countryside is not their own private playground and prosecute them for the crimes they commit against animals and people.”

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset police confirmed that there had been a complaint made to them about an incident at Ston Easton on Saturday.

Police had attended the scene following the incident and had started an investigation.

The spokesman added that they had been allegations of assault and theft from several hunt observers.

Police officers had not been able to collect all the statements at the time were now in the process of taking statements from the complainants in their own homes.

http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Hunt-supporters-attacked-claims/article-2776522-detail/article.html

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Allegations that South West hunt saboteurs were attacked and robbed on the Mendips are being investigated by police.

The saboteurs claim that the incident took place on Saturday when members of the South West hunt saboteurs were out monitoring a hunt taking place on the Mendips at Ston Easton and Emborough.

Lee Moon, spokesman for the hunt saboteurs, said they were present at the hunt to monitor for evidence of illegal hunting and to present any such evidence to the police.

Mr Moon said: “Whilst standing on a public footpath watching the hunt, the group of eight anti-hunt protesters, made up of men and women, were approached by five vehicles whose number plates had been obscured with mud.

“Approximately a dozen men jumped out of the vehicles and proceeded to attack the hunt saboteurs shouting ‘get the cameras’.

“People were punched in the face and one man had his leg repeatedly stamped on.

“The attackers did not stop until they had stolen three video cameras and one digital camera. Members of the anti-hunt group were left severely battered and shocked by this unprovoked and brutal attack and robbery.”

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police confirmed that there had been a complaint made to them about an incident at Ston Easton on Saturday and had started an investigation.

Mendip Farmers’ Hunt’s master of hounds Richard Standing confirmed that the Mendip Farmers Hunt was in the area on Saturday, but said that he had not seen any hunt saboteurs. He added that he believed that another hunting group had also been in the area on Saturday.

http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Hunt-saboteurs-attack-claims/article-2780150-detail/article.html

Tory Conference demo 6th Oct

There will be a peaceful protest at Tory conference on the last day of conference (6thOct) when slimy Cameron will be doing his speech.

There will no doubt be a designated protest area (where we will no doubt be kept  far away from everyone!!).

Please meet at 12.30pm at the designated demo area at ICC Birmingham.

Details of how to find ICC,  where conference is being held, http://www.theicc.co.uk

For more details please e mail:  facctcampaign@googlemail.com

National Trust drops opposition to culling of TB badgers on its land

The National Trust will not oppose the killing of badgers on its Westcountry properties, if a cull of diseased animals is allowed by the Government.

The trust has updated its stance on a cull, having previously stated that its preferences for dealing with the spread of bovine tuberculosis would be cattle-to-cattle controls and vaccination.

But in an new statement this week, which could prove unpopular among elements of its three-and-a-half million members, the National Trust said it would not object to a cull on its tenanted farms and other land, provided all the correct checks and balances were in place. But the trust still stressed that badger vaccination should be used wherever and whenever possible.

The statement said: “If the criteria for a successful cull can be met, and it is legal and carried out to the highest possible welfare standards as part of a package of measures that includes more rigorous approaches to reduce cattle-to-cattle transmission, then we would not object to culls taking place in areas that include our land, where it is shown all other routes have been explored.”

It added: “We accept there is no point addressing cattle-to- cattle transmission without also addressing the wildlife reservoir of bovine TB. We feel strongly that this should be done as part of a comprehensive package of measures.”

The Government has ordered a three-month consultation on what to do about the steady spread of bovine TB throughout cattle herds in various areas, notably the South West, and that will run until the end of the year.

Once all the evidence has been collated, a decision on a way forward is likely to be announced in the early spring, but it would not necessarily involve the culling of sick badgers. Culling could be one of the options, using cage traps and shooting.

Farming organisations have urged their members to respond positively to the consultation paper and encourage a cull in hot-spot areas, where many cattle herds are subject to prolonged movement restrictions having lost animals that proved positive to TB tests.

The National Trust, which claims to be “the guardian of the nation’s heritage”, is a major landowner in the Westcountry.

In particular, it is the largest landowner on Exmoor, where it is the guardian of 7,155 hectares of moorland, woodland and mixed farm holdings.

Exmoor is one of the four hotspot areas in the Westcountry where 1,700 farmers have signed up for licences applying to cull sick badgers, should the cull go ahead.

The others include North Cornwall and West Devon, West Penwith and the South Hams, all of which contain well-known National Trust properties, coastline and farms.

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/news/National-Trust-drops-opposition-culling-TB-badgers-land/article-2712658-detail/article.html

Lush to launch greyhound protection campaign

Your support needed on October 13th!

We are delighted to announce that Lush Cosmetics is launching an in-store campaign “to highlight the cruelty that is going on in greyhound racing”.

The campaign, which will run in more than 90 Lush stores throughout the UK and Ireland from October 11th – 17th, is aimed at helping Greyhound Action in our mission to educate the public about the problems with betting on greyhound racing and going to the tracks.

Lush, which operates a strict policy against animal testing and supports air Trade and Community Trade initiatives, has already staged many campaigns in support of animal and environmental protection and human rights issues (see http://www.lush.co.uk/articles/our_ethical_campaigns/introduction.html).

Lush’s most important date and time for the greyhounds is Wednesday, October 13th at 12 noon, when the media will be invited to stores that are running  the campaign. Lush shop assistants will be wearing running numbers and carrying placards saying “Don’t bet on it! Help end greyhound racing!”
and customers will be invited to join in and try to win a small prize by participating in a human race. Where possible, Lush would also like rescued greyhounds to be present.

Lush stores that are running the greyhound campaign are as follows:-

Aberdeen, Basingstoke*, Bath, Belfast, Birmingham, Bolton*, Bournemouth, Brighton, Bristol, Bromley*, Cambridge, Cardiff, Carlisle*, Chelmsford, Cheltenham*, Chester, Chichester, Colchester*, Cork, Coventry*, Crawley*, Croydon, Dartford (Bluewater)*, Derby*, Doncaster*, Dublin (Grafton St), Dublin (Henry St), Dudley (Merry Hill)*, Dundee*, Edinburgh, Exeter, Gateshead*, Glasgow (Braehead)*, Glasgow (Buchanan St), Glasgow (Sauchiehall St), Grays (Lakeside)*, Guildford, Harrogate, High Wycombe*, Hull, Inverness, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Kingston-upon-Thames, Lincoln, London (Chelsea – Kings Rd), London (Covent Garden)*, London (Liverpool Street Station), London (Notting Hill – Portobello Rd), London (Victoria Station), London (West End – Regent St), London (West End – South Molton Street), London (White City)*, London (Wimbledon), Luton*, Maidstone, Manchester (Arndale)*, Manchester (Market St), Manchester (Trafford Centre)*, Middlesbrough*, Milton Keynes*, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newry*, Northampton*, Nottingham, Norwich, Oxford, Peterborough*, Plymouth*, Poole, Portsmouth*, Preston*, Reading*, Romford*, Sheffield (Fargate St), Sheffield (Meadowhall Centre)*, Solihull, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent (Hanley)*, Stratford-upon-Avon, Swansea, Swindon, Taunton, Telford*, Truro, Warrington*, Watford*, Windsor, Worcester, York.

Please try to get along to your nearest Lush store at 12 noon on Wednesday, October 13th to show your support and help make the campaign a big success. And, if you have rescued greyhounds, do try to take them along (where possible) to help show the public the beauty and gentleness of these
wonderful dogs that are so callously abused by the racing industry.

Unfortunately, greyhounds cannot be taken to the stores in the list above that are marked with an asterisk (*), as these are located in shopping malls where dogs are not allowed.

For full addresses of the stores and to find those nearest to you, go to http://www.lush.co.uk/shop-finder

If you intend taking part on October 13th, please let us know (at info@greyhoundaction.org.uk or on 01562 700 043) and tell us which store you are going to, so we can give Lush some idea of the numbers of people and greyhounds that will be involved.

If you can’t make it along to a Lush store on the 13th, but can do  so on other days during that week (with or without greyhounds), your support will still be appreciated, as each store will have hundreds of leaflets for distribution to customers and passers-by.

http://greyhound-action.blogspot.com/2010/09/lush-to-launch-greyhound-protection.htmlLush to launch greyhound protection campaign