Abandoned Horses at Dunsink to Be Helped
A coalition of local government and a private trust will help the abandoned horses at Dunsink, a common grazing ground near Dublin. The Fingal County Council and the Irish Horse Welfare Trust drew up the plans jointly. According to Sharon Newsome, spokeswoman for the trust, there are approximately sixty horses on the 160-acre site at […]
Movement Afoot to Re-Open Horse Processing Plants
There are movements stirring to re-open horse processing plants in the U.S. The last remaining processing facility, which was located in Illinois, was closed in 2007 by a federal judge. Although horse processing was not outlawed, Congress, in 2006, curtailed the US Department of Agriculture’s inspection of such plants. Just recently, a Summit of the […]
British Hunting Ban Will Go Unchallenged in 2011
England’s Hunting Act will go unchallenged in 2011, despite Prime Minister David Cameron’s earlier pledge for a free vote in Parliament and despite former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s admission this year that passage of the Act was a mistake. Although the government claims there are more pressing issues requiring Parliament’s attention, there is doubt now […]
Thousands of Horses Abandoned in Ireland
The Daily Mail reports that thousands of horses—perhaps as many as one hundred thousand—are being abandoned in Ireland as a result of the financial crisis there. Many are brought by their owners to common grazing grounds, such as Dunsink tip near Dublin, and left to fend for themselves. Some too weak to survive have had […]
Horsey Book Wins National Book Award
Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon won the National Book Award for Fiction last month. The book’s title is taken from the name of a horse at a seedy, fictional racetrack in West Virginia. As a novelist, Jaimy Gordon has been championed by a few during her years of obscurity, and was, as the New York […]
UK Huntsman First to Garner Two Convictions Under the Hunting Act
Huntsman Richard Down of the Quantock Hills staghounds has been convicted for a second time under the Hunting Act. He was convicted for hunting a wild mammal with more than two dogs. Down had three. Down’s first conviction was in 2007 when he was found guilty of chasing deer with hounds. In the five years […]
Right-to-Hunt Prop 109 Defeated in Arizona
The ballot measure to make hunting a constitutional right was defeated by Arizona voters. Poor communication among pro-hunting groups, confusing language in the legislation, and large expenditures by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) opposing the bill were cited as reasons for the measure’s defeat. A single cash donation by HSUS of $250,000 […]
Imminent Repeal of Britain’s Hunting Ban Is Doubtful
Notwithstanding the Prime Minister’s promise of a free vote in Parliament on the repeal of the Hunting Bill, the issue has been eclipsed by the more pressing problems of the British economy. Despite Countryside Alliance head Alice Barnard’s recent statements urging that Prime Minister David Cameron “right a great wrong” by overturning the ban, the […]
Student Suspended for Riding Horse to School in Myopia Country
Were he alive today, famous cavalry officer General George Patton would be appalled that a high school student in his old home town could be suspended for riding a horse to school. Hamilton-Wenham High School is, after all, in General Patton’s old hunting country, home to the Myopia Hunt since 1882. High school senior Dan […]
Irish Foxhunters Secure Concessions
Irish foxhunters, shattered by legislation earlier this year banning the 154-year-old Ward Union Staghounds, have been holding their collective breath for the next shoe to fall. The Green Party, instrumental in the staghound ban, were pushing additional legislation that would require all dog breeding establishments with five or more breeding bitches to be licensed and […]