May 16, 2014
Wentworth Audrey Is Grand Champion at New England Hound Show
Grand Champion Wentworth Audrey 2013, shown by huntsman Kami Wolk, MFH / Eric Schneider photo Wentworth Audrey 2013 was judged Grand Champion of Show at the New England Hound Show on Sunday, May 4, 2014. The show was held at Echo Ridge Farm in Lee, New Hampshire and was hosted for the first time by the Wentworth Hunt. Audrey is by a Penn-Marydel sire, Red Mountain Van Gogh 2008, out of an American dam, Keswick Nipper 2010.
Audrey's sire, Van Gogh, has his own history. After a couple of stops in the Carolinas, his intelligence earned him a new home in New England where he could hobnob with all the Ivy Leaguers. More on that later.
Huntsman Charles Montgomery from the Bull Run Hunt (VA) judged the foxhounds. Montgomery knows a good hound when he sees one. As huntsman for the Live Oak Hounds (FL) for many years, he consistently fielded a pack of hounds of which an astounding percentage were hound show Champions and Grand Champions.
Wentworth is a drag pack in southern New Hampshire that changed over from Crossbred hounds to American and Penn-Marydel when the current huntsman Kami Wolk, MFH, took up the horn. Kami explained that Audrey was one of two litter sisters that huntsman David Raley drafted to her from the Moore County Hounds (NC). David, in turn, had received the pair from Katherine Gunter, huntsman at the Aiken Hounds (SC) who bred the litter.
Live Oak Hounds/USPC Challenge Winners Announced
Green Spring Hounds Pony Club members on a cubhunting morning: (l-r) Brenna Miller, Brigitte Frasier (mom, chaperone), Will Frasier, and Shelby Langlois / Pam Stockdale photo
The Green Spring Valley Pony Club in Maryland won the eighth annual Live Oak Hounds USPC Foxhunting Challenge Award for 2014. The Challenge Award is made possible through the generous support of Mr. and Mrs. C. Martin Wood III, Joint-Masters of the Live Oak Hounds in Monticello, Florida and Past Presidents of the MFHA.
The Award is designed to encourage Pony Club members who do not regularly hunt to try the sport and to reward members who hunt on a regular basis to act as mentors to the less-experienced Pony Club members. Ten thousand dollars in awards are distributed each year among the top six Pony Clubs who introduce the greatest number of active Pony Club members to the sport of foxhunting.
A handful of avid foxhunters established the United States Pony Club in 1954, and the sport and the Club continue to share a close bond.
HSUS Sues Circus; Loses Big-Time
After fourteen years of litigation, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and related animal rights groups settled a legal battle that they started against the parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus by agreeing to pay almost sixteen million dollars after a Federal Court determined that their case was “groundless and unreasonable.” This unprecedented settlement—paid for with proceeds received from the many thousands of well-meaning contributors who believe that HSUS is an honorable animal welfare charity—was the final outcome of a lawsuit that HSUS brought against the circus over the care of its Asian elephants. The lawsuit was found “frivolous,” “vexatious,” and “groundless and unreasonable from its inception” by the U.S. District Court. “We hope this settlement payment, and the various court decisions that found against these animal rights activists and their attorneys, will deter individuals and organizations from bringing frivolous litigation like this in the future,” said Kenneth Feld, Chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling Bros. “This settlement is a significant milestone for our family-owned business and all the dedicated men and women who care for the Ringling Bros. herd of 42 Asian elephants. We look forward to continuing to set the standard for providing world-class care for all our animals and producing high quality, family entertainment.” Will the settlement payment deter frivolous actions in the future as Mr. Feld hopes? Unfortunately, not all targets of animal rights activism possess the financial resources to defend and then prosecute these organizations for their excesses. Just this week the state of Utah denied PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) permission to erect a roadside memorial for hundreds of turkeys that were killed in a tractor trailer accident last month. Activists plan to appeal the decision. PETA has filed for similar memorials in other states to promote their vegan doctrine: chickens in Georgia and cows in New York City. To date, none of the requests have been allowed. Click for additional information on the HSUS settlement and the underlying litigation. Posted May 16, 2014
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