League Against Cruel Sports

Persuaded by evidence furnished to the court by investigators from the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS), an English judge found three men from one of that country’s foremost hunts guilty of illegally hunting the fox. Joint-Master Timothy Windham Basil Smalley, MFH; huntsman Ian McKie; and kennel huntsman Andrew Proe of the College Valley North Northumberland Foxhounds were convicted in Berwick Magistrate’s Court. LACS cameramen secretly filmed a meet on February 27 of this year. The videos showed foxes bolting from covert, and it appeared that hounds were in the chase. The defendants argued that hounds were following a drag scent and that hounds came across the fox and switched to the live hunt. McKie tried to explain to the court that it takes some time to stop a pack, but the judge was not persuaded. In other evidence put forth by the plaintiffs, the allegation was made that Smalley lifted his cap and pointed in the direction of the fox and that staff encouraged hounds with horn and voice. The conviction was a disappointment to the pro-hunting community. Outside the court, huntsman McKie said that hounds were stopped successfully, and the fox was not killed. Another judge, he felt, could have come to a different conclusion. As yet, no decision on an appeal has been announced. Foxhunting Life reported on August 2 that a spokesman for the Countryside Alliance expressed confidence that the men would be exonerated, as was the only other defendant—Percy huntsman Robert McCarthy—to be charged under the Hunting Act in that jurisdiction back in 2009. Click to read the complete article in The Telegraph. Posted October 15, 2014

  Three members of the College Valley and North Northumberland Foxhounds were charged under the Hunting Act. Two Masters—former champion jockey Ian McKie and Timothy Smalley—along with kennel huntsman Andrew Proe are accused of hunting illegally on February 27, 2014. Charges are based on evidence furnished by the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) and investigations by police. The defendants pleaded not guilty at their July 17 court appearance and will stand trial on October 13. A spokesman for the Countryside Alliance expressed confidence that the men would be exonerated, as was the only other defendant—Percy Foxhounds huntsman Robert McCarthy—to be charged under the act in that jurisdiction back in 2009. Click for more details in Michael Brown’s article in The Journal. Posted August 2, 2014  

  A British defense solicitor has called for an end to the hunting ban in England because too many prosecutions are thrown out for lack of evidence. Passion, yes, he says. Evidence, no. A Master and huntsman from the Weston and Barnwell Harriers and his whipper-in were recently acquitted in court of charges leveled by the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS). The League presented a video that their Chief Executive Joe Duckworth said, “Clearly shows evidence of illegal foxhunting.” The judge, however, said the ninety-seconds of footage showed drag hunting, using a cloth soaked in fox urine, and the hounds were stopped before reaching a live fox. The exonerated Master and huntsman, George Milton, has been unsuccessfully accused four times in a period of only twelve months by LACS. He has suffered through two trials costing in the six figures. Milton’s defence solicitor, Jamie Foster, sees the case as another blow for the League Against Cruel Sports. In an OpEd piece in the Western Morning News, Foster writes, “While I have nothing against anyone’s deeply held beliefs, the criminal court is not the place for those beliefs to be relied upon. A court demands cogent evidence, and, yet again, [LACS] was unable to provide it. “In the end, justice was done but at a considerable cost. The League must have spent in excess of £100,000 of charitable donations on the case. The police, the CPS and the court all had to commit public money to it and the taxpayer faces a hefty bill for the legal costs run up by George and Toby in their defence. It is impossible to see how any of this expense can possibly be justified by a case in which a fox, two minutes ahead of the hounds was pursued for less than the length of a single field and would never have been aware of the existence of its pursuers. Surely it is time to repeal this legislation and allow the League to go back to waving placards and gnashing their teeth freeing up the criminal courts to deal with matters that really are in the public interest to prosecute.” Posted May 15, 2014  

The League Against Cruel Sports (LAS) has announced its intention to use unmanned drones with video cameras to bolster their prosecutions in court against illegal hunting in England. A spokesman said they would provide the evidence to police. The LAS claims that the airspace above private property is free and open to their surveillance. They plan to use the services of ShadowView, a non-profit company that provides surveillance by remote-controlled aircraft. The Hunting Act went into effect in England and Wales in 2005, making it illegal to hunt the fox with a pack of hounds. To comply with the law, hunts putting a pack of hounds into the field must lay a drag. Foxhunters claim that the law is unworkable because hounds may come across the line of a live fox and give chase. When that happens, the prosecution must prove that the huntsman and staff intended to hunt the fox in order to gain a conviction. Intent has been so difficult to prove in court that police have been loathe to bring charges and waste the courts’ time. The LAS believes that aerial videos will help provide the needed proof. The LAS announcement has raised questions of privacy. Click to read the complete BBC article. Posted March 18, 2013

The League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) has announced plans to sell some of its land in Exmoor to raise funds for a £1 million campaign to defend the hunting ban. This is in response to the coalition government’s promise for a free vote in Parliament on the repeal of the Hunting Act. LACS would place restrictions on the land to prevent hunting or shooting there, no matter the outcome of the vote. Spokespersons for the Countryside Alliance have argued that the Act is flawed and does not work. No date has yet been set for the vote, but according to BBC News, it could come as early as September, when Parliament returns from summer recess.August 14, 2010

June 13, 2010The League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) claims in their annual report that two thirds of British hunts flout the Hunting Act by continuing to hunt wild mammals. The League urges stricter policing. Countryside Alliance spokesman Tim Bonner counters that thousands of hours of police time have already been wasted “investigating pointless allegations.” The hunting community, in its fight to strike down the Hunting Act, argues that the law is unworkable as evidenced by the collapse in the courts of all prosecutions since January 2008. “There is no justification for any organisation wasting further public funding, especially when public service is under such financial pressure,” says Bonner. Reported by Horse and Hound.