Badger baiting accused face court

Badger The men were charged as part of an investigation into badger baiting

Three men have appeared in court over alleged badger baiting.

The defendants are all accused of causing unnecessary suffering to a terrier dog and badger and interfering with a badger sett.

At Newtownards Magistrates Court were Graham Arthur Officer, 40, from Rose Park, Donaghadee and brothers Chris and Ryan Kirkwood, aged 21 and 19, from Island Street, east Belfast.

Another defendant did not appear in court for medical reasons.

He is Darren Millar, 39, from Rainey Way Belfast.

Ryan Kirkwood is also charged with resisting police.

The defendants spoke to say they understood the charges.

A police constable told the court this was “an extreme and disturbing case”.

She added that the USPCA said it was the worst case of animal cruelty in many years.

District Judge Mark Hamill said the men were to desist from any type of hunting related activities and were warned to stick to their bail conditions which also included a 9pm to 7am curfew, and continued bail of £500.

The men were arrested by police as part of operation Meles, their investigation into badger baiting across Northern Ireland.

A number of properties were searched in the Banbridge and south Armagh areas.

The accused are to appear in court again on 8 June.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17892108

 

Cumbria – Hunting trial guilty verdict

TWO Cumbrian men have been found guilty by a Sheriff of deliberately hunting foxes and badgers on farmland near Langholm.

Ryan Lowe, 30, of Baird Road, Harraby, Carlisle, and 40-year-old Brian Sanderson, of West Lane, Shap, were also found guilty of being in possession of items capable of being used for an offence contrary to the Protection of Badgers Act.

They were found not guilty of approaching a badger sett with the dogs, disturbing entrances and causing a dog to enter the sett.

It followed a three-day trial during which the men had claimed they were only out for a walk with dogs at Effgill at Westerkirk last May.

They will be sentenced next month.

http://www.itv.com/news/border/update/2012-04-25/hunting-trial-guilty-verdict/

 

Two Caernarfon men deny badger baiting offences

A FARMER heard the “frenzied barking” of dogs and knew they were hunting badgers, a court heard.

Bleddyn Jones told Caernarfon Magistrates he was going to feed cattle on land near Criccieth last April when he spotted a van parked close to the well established badger sett.

A few minutes later he heard the dogs barking. When he went to investigate he saw two men and heard more dogs barking. One of the men was digging with a small shovel.

Dennis Dwayne Williams (left) and Keith Williams

Keith Williams, 31, of Bethel Road, Caernarfon, and Dennis Dwayne Williams, also 31, of Llys Tryfan, Caernarfon, deny charges of attempting to take a badger, digging for badgers and interfering with badger setts.

Mr Jones said: “The dogs were barking in a way they do when they are chasing after another animal. It was frenzied.”

Standing on a road where he could see the sett, he clearly saw the two men and their dogs. When he entered the field moments later he saw the men walking towards him. The dogs – terriers, a greyhound and a lurcher – were on leads.

“One at least had a bloodied nose – from nostrils to the eye it was covered in thick blood.

“I asked them what they were doing. They had no reason to be there. I told them I knew what they had been doing and had been at the badger sett and I was afraid I would get the blame.

“They just took the dogs back to the van. One of them said he’d been visiting for years,” said Mr Jones.

Quizzed by Clive Rees, for Keith Williams, he said there had been a badger sett in the field for many years. He added he had seen badger activity in the area the previous week.

Arrested and interviewed by police, Keith Williams accepted it was his van and that he was at the scene but declined to name his companion.

Dennis Williams was arrested during a search of Keith Williams’ home. He denied being on the land but was identified by the farmer.

Anna Pope, for Dennis Williams, asked if he was sure he had identified her client. “I’m happy enough in myself that it was him,” Mr Jones said.

Badger expert Elizabeth Lee visited the site several weeks after the incident and concluded it had been an active sett in recent months.

But defence expert Stephen Lomax disagreed stating he believed the sett to have been abandoned for some time.

The trial continues.

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2012/04/25/two-caernarfon-men-deny-badger-baiting-offences-55578-30832988/?

 

Hunt master fined over gun charges

A LLANBEDR hunt master has been fined £3,500 for ‘losing’ two guns and leaving a pistol in his car.

Alan Owen, 63, of Glandŵr Cottages, Llanbedr, who is the Llanbedr Master of the Hounds, pleaded guilty at Dolgellau magistrates court this week to three charges of failing to comply with the conditions of a shotgun and firearm certificate regulations.

Richard Edwards, prosecuting, said that on 14 February police officers attended at Owen’s home to check that the shotguns and firearms were kept under lock and key and complied with the regulations.

The police discovered that a pistol was missing and Owen said that it was in the glove compartment of his car. When the police asked about three other guns Owen said that he knew where they were, one was in the lounge that was due to be cleaned and the other two were upstairs, but when he went to get the two guns upstairs they had gone.

Owen gave the police details of the person he thought had the two guns, but the police enquiries did not sup-port what Owen had said.The defendant was responsible locally for disposing of unwell animals and had used the pistol that morning to destroy two unwell sheep, the court heard.

Owen said that he felt unwell and on doctors advice went to lie down. He told police that he forgot about the pistol, but reminded the officers that there was no ammunition in the vehicle.

http://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/news/i/23785/

 

Channel 4 live shows to investigate urban foxes

Foxes Live: Wild in the City, airing across three nights, aims to take UK census of the animals involving interactive website

John Plunkett
guardian.co.uk

Channel 4 will do for foxes what Springwatch did for blue tits with a live natural history show that promises the biggest ever nationwide study into urban foxes in the UK.

Foxes Live: Wild in the City will air across three nights on Channel 4 and aims to give viewers a “fox eye view of our cities” with cutting-edge technology and user-generated content.

Broadcasting live from London’s Battersea power station it will presented by veterinary expert Mark Evans, from Channel 4′s Inside Nature’s Giants, and Four Rooms host Anita Rani.

CCTV cameras, GPS tags and “mini fox cams” will be used to trace the animals and build up a UK fox census, with between 30,000 and 40,000 foxes believed to be living in cities and up to 250,000 in the countryside.

Evans said: “Foxes are an enigma. We know so very little about what foxes get up to in our cities. Everyone’s seen one. Everyone has an opinion. There are few wild animals that trigger such heated debate.”

Launching on 30 April Foxes Live will return with two more live shows the following week at a time of year when vixens are giving birth and cubs are starting to emerge from their dens.

Channel 4 specialist factual commissioning editor Sara Ramsden described it as “everything you ever wanted to know about foxes but were afraid to ask”.

“We’ll find out why vixens screech at night during the mating season, all about fox cub toilet habits, just why foxes leave that terrible smell in your garden, the role of the father in a fox family and just how we can learn to live in close harmony with this most beautiful wild animal,” added Ramsden.

The programme will run alongside an interactive website where viewers can map where they have seen foxes and upload their pictures and videos, and will also feature “live trapping” and “poo collection” to given an insight into the animals’ habits.

Channel 4 multi-platform commissioning editor Kate Quilton said the show would look to build on the success of C4′s Hippo: Wild Feast Live.

“This is natural history in a new way,” she added. “With the help of the audience, we can use new technologies across platforms to unlock new stories.”

Lady turns on a foxhunter!

Made my day!!!

 

Terrierman wins badger sett appeal

A hunt supporter has been cleared of damaging a badger sett after a judge ruled he may have been the victim of mistaken identity.

Andrew Bellamy, 41, had always denied that he was a man caught on film by anti hunt monitors sending a terrier underground and then digging out and killing a fox which it located.

He was found not guilty on appeal at Exeter Crown Court after Recorder Mr Malcolm Gibney said it was impossible to be sure he was the man on the film.

The Recorder also ruled that there was no evidence that the badger sett had been active at the time of the digging two years ago.

After the case terrierman Mr Bellamy said: “I am very glad that justice has been done. This has taken two years of my life and has had a detrimental effect on me and my family. I am just glad it is all over.”

Mr Bellamy is the huntsman with the Spooners and West Dartmoor Hunt where his wife Clare is the hunt master.

He was also the terrierman with the neighbouring South Devon Hunt, which has its kennels at Denbury, near Newton Abbot.

Mr Bellamy, of The Kennels, Sampford Spiney, near Yelverton, appealed to Exeter Crown Court against his conviction by South Devon Magistrates last year for two offences of interfering with a badger sett.

He was cleared by Recorder Gibney who ruled in his favour on both the main issues in the case, whether he was the man on the video and whether it was an active sett.

During the four-day hearing the prosecution alleged Mr Bellamy was a bald headed man caught on a 31-minute video clip video by hunt monitor Edmund Shephard.

The footage showed the man digging into an apparent badger sett during a meet of the South Devon Hunt at Beacon Farm, Bridford, near Newton Abbot.

The Recorder awarded Mr Bellamy costs to cover his expenses in travelling to and from the appeal.

http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/Terrierman-wins-badger-sett-appeal/story-15813474-detail/story.html

 

Scottish gamekeeper guilty of wildlife crime after trapping owl

Scottish gamekeeper guilty of wildlife crime after trapping owl

A Kirriemuir gamekeeper has admitted illegal trapping an owl in a cage trap.

Robert Christie, 58, of Lindertis Estate, Airlie, pled guilty to the offence, which occurred in 2010, and was admonished at Forfar Sheriff Court.

The tawny owl suffered an injury to its beak and was extremely thin as the trap contained no food.

The bird received immediate vet treatment and has been released successfully back into the wild.

Cage traps are large wire enclosures with a funnel which a bird flies down into and cannot escape.

They are typically used to control carrion crows to protect livestock and fruit and vegetable crops.

The trap did not contain food or shelter, and a tray of water contained green algae.

It also did not have an identification tag, all contrary to the terms of the general licence.

Scottish SPCA Chief Superintendent Mike Flynn said: “Cage traps are widely misused, either through poor management or ignorance.

“The trap which Christie was responsible for failed to meet the legal requirements of the Scottish government’s General Licence.

“Christie pled ignorance to such conditions, which is shocking given he was an experienced gamekeeper.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-17609305

 

Police and animal welfare officers carry out searches in badger baiting probe

ANIMAL welfare officers have joined forces with the police to search several properties under warrants as part of a badger baiting investigation.

A number of seriously injured dogs were removed for further examination during the raids.

The Scottish SPCA carried out the searches with Strathclyde Police yesterday in Lanarkshire.

The charity said its inquiries are continuing and that it will submit a report to the procurator fiscal.

Those involved in badger baiting dig out the animals’ sets and either send dogs in or pull the badger out and force it to fight with a dog.

Yesterday’s searches are part of Operation Meles, a UK-wide investigation into badger baiting.

In a statement, the Scottish SPCA said: “This investigation was the culmination of lengthy enquiries into allegations of organised badger baiting and animal fighting.

Similar raids have been conducted during a co-ordinated plan throughout Northern Ireland, England and Wales.

“Badger baiting continues to be a clandestine activity which is extremely difficult to detect and bring perpetrators forward for prosecution.

“Cruelty and suffering in the so-called blood sport often results in horrendous injuries to both badgers and dogs.”

The charity urged anyone with information about such activities to contact it.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/police-and-animal-welfare-officers-carry-out-searches-in-badger-baiting-probe-1-2213039

 

Four men charged in connection with badger baiting.

Four men have been charged in connection with a police operation into badger baiting.

The 42, 39, 21 and 19-year-olds will face counts of animal cruelty at Newtownards Magistrates’ Court on Monday 30 April.

Police said it comes after a series of arrests were made on 26 March as part of Operation Meles, the investigation into badger baiting across Northern Ireland.

The charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.

http://www.u.tv/News/Four-charged-with-animal-cruelty/2b4619e1-c27d-46d0-9c10-b781292289ca