jedforest foxhounds

Timothy Allen, MFH and Shaun Anderson, huntsman of the Duke of Buccleuch’s Hunt in Scotland appeared in the Jedburgh Sheriff Court on October 8th on a charge of breaching Scotland’s Protection of Wild Mammals Act by deliberately hunting a fox with a pack of hounds. The pair pled not guilty. Last year, Johnny Riley and his father John Clive Richardson, MFH of the Jedforest Foxhounds were found guilty of breaching the foxhunting laws. Their conviction was the first under the act since its passage in 2002. Evidence in the Buccleuch action was given by a director of the League Against Cruel Sports in Scotland. The LACS has engaged teams to covertly film the country’s ten hunts. As in the Jedforest case, video evidence will be the crux of the prosecution’s case. LACS is working to tighten Scotland’s hunting laws. One sheep farmer in support of the hunt claims to lose at least one hundred lambs every year to foxes, harming his revenue and devastating to the sheep. Three days of evidence have been heard, and the trial has been adjourned until December 4. Posted October 12, 2018

A video taken from nearly a half mile away purports to show a man digging out a fox, after which staff members of the Jedforest Foxhounds pursued it on horseback in contravention of Scotland’s Protection of Wild Mammals Act of 2002. Mounted hunt staff members John Clive Richardson and Johnny Riley stand trial accused of pursuing the fox with hounds after it had gone to ground, been located by terriers, dug out by the terrier man, and chased once again by hounds. The accused men deny deliberately hunting a fox with hounds. The law requires that, once dug out, the fox must be immediately dispatched or killed by waiting guns. The video was filmed by an investigator from the League Against Cruel Sports and was shown in evidence at Jedburgh sheriff court. The LACS investigator, Terence Hill, said, “There are far too many loopholes in the legislation just now. Flushing to guns is not happening. Traditional fox hunting is still going on.” The trial continues. Click for Robert Fairburn’s complete article in The Times. Posted March 19, 2017