John Harrison, 48, of Grassthwaite Howe, in Glenridding near Penrith, appeared at Eden Magistrates’ Court charged with two counts of hunting a wild mammal with a dog.
He pleaded not guilty to both offences, and will now go on trial before a district judge in Penrith over three days from September 16 to September 18.
Lancashire: Two men guilty of badger digging
Two men have been found guilty of using dogs to drive badgers out of their setts in Shropshire.
Paul Billington, 32, of Wrexham and Gerard Monk, 27, of Wheelton, nr Chorley, Lancashire, were found guilty after a two-day trial brought by the RSPCA.
The pair faced a variety of charges including attempting to kill a badger, digging for badgers, interfering with setts and hunting with dogs.
An RSPCA spokesman said the pair were digging at the setts near Whitchurch.
The majority of Conservative Party supporters back the ban on fox hunting and do not want the Hunting Act repealed, according to a new poll published today - views that are in direct opposition to leader David Cameron's pro-hunting stance.
The poll by Ipsos-MORI was conducted on behalf of the League Against Cruel Sports and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). It shows that twice as many Tory supporters favour the ban as want it repealed. Nearly six-in-ten (59%) say they want to retain the Hunting Act, with just three in ten (30%) wanting to repeal it.
Michael Gerald Nicholson, Huntsman for Coniston Foxhounds, smashed the window of a Ford Escort with three anti-hunt campaigners inside. After the incident was reported to the police, Nicholson was arrested and interviewed. He admitted to being the man involved in the incident.
Nicholson, 40, pleaded guilty to criminal damage when he appeared before South Lakeland Magistrates’ Court.
Just days after a seven year girl tragically died after the quad bike she was driving hit a Range Rover, pro-hunt fanatic Nicholas Soames MP is filmed driving a quad bike on a road overloaded with children and adults supporting the notorious Crawley and Horsham hunt. [REALCA for full story]
They are sold in luxury stores and appear on the menus of top restaurants, with customers assured that the birds are reared on specialist farms with the highest welfare standards.
But the gourmet packaging in which thousands of quail are shipped each week belies the cramped and grubby conditions in which many birds are kept, according to investigators working for the League Against Cruel Sports.
Footage recorded in the poultry farms of Britain's biggest quail and quail egg producer, Fayre Game, and seen by the Guardian, shows hundreds of birds packed in filthy, multi-level wire cages in dim lighting. Many have virtually no feathers left on their bodies. Dead birds lie among living and dying birds, with eggs falling on to trays below. Mesh netting alongside is encrusted with dirt and feathers. [Full Story including Video]
You can help the League Against Cruel Sports undercover work by making a donation today.
Hoghton Tower Campaign Update
The unrelenting wet summer made it fairly pointless holding demos at Hoghton Tower but plans are well underway for 2008. As Eddie Coupe says, "I won't spoil it by tellng you everything." but supporters will be notified shortly. Shoot observers are regularly checking the estate and will continue to do so until the end of the season.
25.12.07: Another Victim of 'Conservation'
A distressed Thornton couple were left horrified after their cat was trapped in an illegal "barbaric contraption" and had to have its leg amputated.
RSPCA inspector Bryony Jones says they are keen to speak to anyone with any information into the incident which happened on November 21, 2007. [Source: National Anti-Snaring Campaign]
1.11.07: Ruddy Duck Slaughter at Wigan 'Nature Reserve'
Marksmen from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) brought terror to a nature reserve during a dawn shoot of ruddy ducks. The birds' fate was sealed by Wigan Council who agreed to the slaughter of Wigan's 80 ruddy ducks despite huge public opposition and months of campaigning to save them.
The slaugher of ducks took place on Pearson Flash which is owned by Wigan Council and the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside. Hypocritically there is a 'No Shooting' sign at Pearson Flash.
Campaigners have promised to continue to fight to save the remaining Wigan ruddy ducks.
19.10.07: QUADTOCK STAGHOUNDS DUO LOSE APPEAL
Two men convicted of breaking the law prohibiting hunting have had their appeal against conviction rejected.
Richard Down and Adrian Pillivant, both members of the Quantock Staghounds, were convicted after being filmed by the League Against Cruel Sports.
The league filmed the pair chasing a deer for more than an hour, and the hunters were convicted. A judge at Taunton Crown Court rejected their appeal, saying the pair were hunting for sport.
19.10.07: GAMEKEEPER'S E-MAIL WE RECEIVED TODAY
why dont you jst think a minit and realise that if we didnt control foxes and vermin you wudnt have any of these litle garden birds and hedgeogs. so why dont u leve your impions to your self and stop turning people against us top class gamekkepers.
League Snare Video
Thank you to everyone who has sent in information on snares and traps. Although we cannot include the details here, please be assured all information was passed to investigators and followed up.
The League Against Cruel Sports has launched a new snare website - www.snaringsurvey.org.uk – to gather information on the extent of snaring in the UK.
The National Anti-Snaring Campaign, which we have long supported, has redesigned their already excellent website. We highly recommend you visit www.antisnaring.org.uk
7th June 2007: QUANTOCK STAGHUNTERS CONVICTED
The League Against Cruel Sport's second private prosecution for illegal hunting has been successful! Richard Down and Adrian Pillivant, officials from the Quantock Stag Hounds, have been found guilty of illegal hunting in Bristol this morning. Fines of £500 each plus cost of £1,000, and the Judge said: 'The Act is clear' - what they were doing was: 'sport and recreation', so obviously illegal. [More...]
Hunting Fanatics Plummet to New Depths
Hunting fanatics have mounted a dirty tricks campaign against the League Against Cruel Sports seeking to blacken the League’s name and shame the organisation.
The pro hunt Countryside Alliance has released video footage showing a stag being stabbed and another being shot. Both incidents took place on the League’s sanctuary land in Baronsdown, Somerset . The pro hunting group, which has accused the League of ‘promoting cruelty’ on its land, claim the footage proves the League is allowing animals to fall into a ‘horrific state’.
This is clearly not true and the League is in no doubt it has fallen victim to an attempted set up. It appears to be more than a coincidence that the two deer in question should turn up on League land, and lo and behold hunting fanatics are on hand to film both incidents. What is particularly tasteless about this latest incident is the lack of regard for the two deer which suffered and for the CA to seek propaganda from this is nothing short of despicable.
League Against Cruel Sports Chief Executive Douglas Batchelor says, “This really is plumbing the depths, even by hunting fanatics’ standards. I am appalled and sickened by this latest attempt to slate the League but anyone with an ounce of common sense can see that the League would never promote the cruelty of any animal. Those who go out to hunt, shoot and torture animals for pleasure are the ones in the wrong not the League”.
The League immediately referred the matter to the police believing it to be a set up.
Anger at Countryside Alliance Call to Sabotage Video Footage
Hunt leaders have urged their supporters to pretend they are being harassed or assaulted by anti-hunt monitors in a bid to sabotage video evidence.
The West's director of the Countryside Alliance said the astonishing tip came from a police officer. More...
Huntsman Guilty of Assault
A Dulverton Farmers huntsman has been found guilty of assault after he rode his horse at hunt monitors.
Anthony Allibone, 49, of The Kennels, East Anstey, had pleaded not guilty to assault on pensioner Yvonne Nichola, 66, who was monitoring the hunt near Brushford when the incident happened in March last year. More...
Drink Drive Fox-Hunter Escapes Ban
FOX hunting buffoon Otis Ferry got off a drink drive ban yesterday claiming he did not know his mates had plied him with treble vodkas. More...
Another Hunt Monitor Attacked
A 60-YEAR-OLD hunt monitor said she was violently knocked to the ground by a supporter as she tried to film a hunt taking place in Oxfordshire. More...
Bloody Nightmare - Oakley Hunt Kill AGAIN
A stag was torn to pieces by dogs in front of horrified householders. They were the same Oakley Hunt dogs that fatally savaged a llama near Luton last month.
HUNTING SUPPORTERS HAVE SIGHTS ON ME Police are investigating claims that a Somerset woman has been targeted by pro-hunt supporters because she is keeping tabs on local hunts.
Hoghton Tower Police Waste Money
Animal Welfare campaigners have accused police of wasting taxpayers money after 18 officers were sent to watch two people observing a duck shoot.
Huntsman Guilty of Vicious Attack
A Devon huntsman has been found guilty of attacking an International Fund for Animal Welfare hunt monitor.
Christopher Marles, 44, of Farringdon, repeatedly punched Kevin Hill who was filming the hunt's activities.
Vigil at the "Sanctuary of Death"
Local Greyhound Action supporters and other dog lovers held a vigil outside Leigh Animal Sanctuary after the Sunday Times revealed the mass-slaughter of greyhounds at the "Sanctuary".
NORTH WEST CAMPAIGN NEWS
Warburtons Bakery Duck Shoot Demo
Supporters of the North West League Against Cruel Sports staged protests at Warburtons original grocery shop and bakery Headquarters in Bolton urging Warburtons Chairman to use his influence on his brother-in-law to save the Hoghton Tower ducks. Petition: Coming in May 2007
One of the bloodsporters’
key arguments — that foxes need to be
destroyed — has been undermined, however,
by the discovery of a letter sent by the Master
of Foxhounds Association to masters and hunt
chairmen. Complaining about “a
shortage of foxes”, it berates
landowners who did too little to encourage the
animals to breed. The letter comes to light
following the leak of documents from the Countryside
Alliance. It is referred to in an e-mail from
Simon Hart, chief executive of the alliance,
to Lord Daresbury, the chairman of the foxhounds
association. Hart warns the letter would be
damaging if it were made public.
Michael Gerald Nicholson, Huntsman for Coniston Foxhounds, smashed the window of a Ford Escort with three anti-hunt campaigners inside. After the incident was reported to the police, Nicholson was arrested and interviewed. He admitted to being the man involved in the incident.
They are sold in luxury stores and appear on the menus of top restaurants, with customers assured that the birds are reared on specialist farms with the highest welfare standards. 
The unrelenting wet summer made it fairly pointless holding demos at Hoghton Tower but plans are well underway for 2008. As Eddie Coupe says, "I won't spoil it by tellng you everything." but supporters will be notified shortly. Shoot observers are regularly checking the estate and will continue to do so until the end of the season. 
Marksmen from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) brought terror to a nature reserve during a dawn shoot of ruddy ducks. The birds' fate was sealed by Wigan Council who agreed to the slaughter of Wigan's 80 ruddy ducks despite huge public opposition and months of campaigning to save them.
