Heythrop

An English judge who questioned the “staggering” amount of money spent by the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) to prosecute a case against the Heythrop Hunt was criticized by his superiors. Although Justice Secretary Chris Grayling ruled out disciplinary action against District Judge Tim Pattinson, he recommended that the judge be given “informal advice” about expressing his “personal opinions” in court. As reported in Foxhunting Life last December, the Heythrop Hunt, its former Master, and its former huntsman all pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful hunting after the court was shown film taken by anti-hunt monitors during the 2011/2012 season. The hunt was fined £4,000, Barnsfield £1,000, and Sumner £1,800. The court also ordered the hunt to pay £15,000 towards the RSPCA’s legal costs. Considering that the RSPCA expended £330,000 to prosecute the case and that their funds are derived from public contributions, Judge Pattinson told the court he thought the charity’s resources might have been more “usefully employed.” Many believed the case to have been politically motivated to embarrass Prime Minister David Cameron who hunted with the Heythrop hunt before the ban. After the hearing, Tory MPs accused the RSPCA of using prosecutions for “political campaigns.” But the judge’s comments infuriated animal rights protesters. RSCPA chief executive Gavin Grant defended the hunt’s prosecution and suggested that foxhunters should be jailed for up to five years, a sentence equivalent to killing a person by driving dangerously. A spokeswoman for the judiciary said that, while the judge was entitled to make observations about the level of costs involved in the prosecution, comments about how RSPCA funds should or should not be used were personal and should not have been expressed. Click to read John Bingham’s complete article in The Telegraph. Posted June 12, 2013

The British MFHA has recommended that all hunts record evidence of their hunting activities to document that they are hunting within the law. The MFHA’s message comes as the result of recent successful prosecutions by authorities and stepped up efforts against hunting by the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS). Three members of the Crawley and Horsham were convicted of offenses contrary to the Hunting Act, and LACS now has ten “investigation officers” tasked to work in pairs around the country seeking actionable offenses. Recently, fifty-two summonses have been levied against the Heythrop by the RSPCA. MFHA Chairman Stephen Lambert warned hunts that the RSPCA has “adopted a scattergun approach…that could snowball unless hunts diligently keep daily records to demonstrate their legal activity with hounds.” Lambert also warned that covert cameramen are at work in most of the hunting countries, and that photographic surveillance is expected to increase in the coming season. Putting a positive spin on the situation during his remarks at the recent AGM, Lambert said that the all-out effort mounted by the opposition gives foxhunters the opportunity to demonstrate that the Hunting Ban is a ridiculous law. Read further details in Flora Watkins’ article in Horse and Hound. Posted June 19,2012