"A-Monitoring We Will Go"
Cheshire League Support Group Reports on their first year's monitoring

"If you see a farmer whacking a pig with a club, don't be surprised if he does the same to you, should you record the events with a camera" - Mike Huskisson.

Not all the actions of your average farmer you will agree, but it serves to illustrate the guilt the farmer feels about his anti-social and cruel behaviour, because he does not want anyone to see his actions, let alone record them for others to see. His response is then to attack the person viewing the incident.

The hunting fraternity always imply that they have nothing to hide and their bloodsport is open for all to see. If that is the case, why have they been so abusive and intimidating to the point of physical assault against Cheshire League Support Group Hunt Monitors? Could it be something to do with the fact that they feel guilty about what they are doing, or are they just trying to hide the real truth about hunting from the public? The answer is probably both.

When we first launched the Cheshire hunt monitoring scheme in November 1993, the Cheshire hunters found us a source of amusement, as we appeared with LACS marked vehicles, bright yellow League tabards, videos and cameras. Little did they realise that very soon they would be laughing on the other side of the their faces. Laughter turned to frustration, anger and then aggression as they suddenly became aware of the increasing number of hunting incidents appearing in the media, constantly exposing the cruelty of hunting and the havoc it can cause, bringing scorn and condemnation on the hunters.

Hunt monitors attended 25 meets out of a possible 200 in Cheshire. We were quite astounded to record over 30 incidents, giving an average of over one per meet attended. These incidents of cruelty, havoc and trespass which occurred almost every week throughout the season, included:

• Discovery of well-used artificial fox earth at hunt opening meet, complete with dead chickens and sheep carcass tied to a tree.
  
  
• Cheshire Foxhounds Whipper-in and supporters hunting on 100mph British Rail main-line.
  
  
• Villagers, including a 3 year old child, witnessing a fox being torn apart just yards from their homes.
  
  
• Hounds charging out of control through residents' gardens and across busy main roads at Middlewich, with the huntsmen and hounds being cornered by angry residents in a nearby field, as the Master is warned by police to "Respect other people's private property".
  
  
• Terriermen setting a dog onto a fox which had gone to ground, and then taking over one and a half hours to dig both animals out. The fox was then shot with a gun.
  
  
• Foxhound found dangling by its leg in barbed wire, during a chase.
  
  
• Farmers angrily confronting huntsmen as they commit mass trespass.
  

And so it went on week after week, headline after headline in the press, complete with monitors' photos. All the news reports, often front page, sometimes on local radio, highlighting the dark and unacceptable side of hunting, serving to increase public awareness of the hunting issue. By now the hunters had had enough, but even warning their riders and supporters to be on their best behaviour because of the presence of League monitors was not enough to stop the rot.

As the season neared the end, the hunters' patience snapped and we saw the other side of hunting emerge. In desperation, to prevent us from filming and even being present, the intimidation and threats turned to violence, when on the 19th February at a meet of the Cheshire Forest Hunt, a League film crew was attacked by a gang of hooded masked stave-wielding supporters who held up the League members' vehicle on a public highway. Fortunately the League monitors escaped without injury by managing to flee from the assailants.

This ugly incident even prompted the police to make a statement on this totally uncalled for and unprovoked attack. Adding to the full front page story in the Northwich Chronicle, Sgt Jones, Cheshire Constabulary's Hunt Liaison Officer, commented, "What the League Against Cruel Sports are doing is perfectly legal and above board" continuing that he, "Cannot understand the apparent anger of hunt supporters towards those who peacefully monitor their activities… Anyone who has a go at the monitors may have a problem about what they are doing."

Clearly Mike Huskisson's comments on the pig-whacking farmer hold true for those who hunt, terrify and kill our wildlife for pleasure. The majority of people in this country abhor cruel sports and what we need now is for as many other support groups as possible throughout the country to go out and record all that is wrong with hunting and bring it to the attention of MPs, councillors, opinion formers and members of the public. The resulting outrage and condemnation will go a long way to bring about parliamentary legislation to end hunting with hounds. Do not be put off by the threats and intimidation - this has always been the hunters' first line of defence against those who oppose them. Once they realise that their actions are only bringing them more bad publicity they will no doubt refrain. We will be stepping up our activities next season, and doubtless the police will be keeping a careful eye on any hunt supporters who openly intimidate the assault League members. It is interesting to note that throughout the season, we did not witness any incidents of violence against the hunters by demonstrators, yet the hunting fraternity has made a big issue over the way they have allegedly been attacked. It would appear that in the majority of cases it is the hunters who instigate the violence and then blame those who oppose their vile practices. By blaming protesters, this has given them the ammunition to call for legislation to control demonstrators, hence Michael Howard's nonsense in the Criminal Justice Bill.

It is quite possible that the hunting fraternity will be keeping a low profile in Cheshire next season, as they will be trying at all costs to prevent bad publicity, especially after the recent incident that befell them on the last day of the Cheshire Foxhounds Hunt season. A member of the public who was walking across a field during the hunt was driven at by a pick-up truck with half a dozen hunt supporters inside. Two of the supporters then jumped out of the truck, cornered him and threatened to give him "a good kicking" unless he gave them his camera … unfortunately for the hunt thugs, the person in question was a reporter from the local Guardian group of newspapers, who had come out to the hunt to see for himself if there was any truth in the reports of violence against demonstrators. The following week's article in the newspapers, written by the reporter, must have been an eye opener for members of the public. The reporter claimed that the only thing that allowed him to escape unharmed was holding up his press card at them. Sounds a little bit like holding a cross up to Dracula in order to prevent his unwelcome advances.

The final work should go to Pauline Windsor, Joint Master of the Cheshire Hunt, who when asked by the reporter about the threats made against him, commented, "It would never have happened if you had not been there" and "We can't have people walking all over the countryside without permission."!

Published in the Wildlife Guardian, Issue 29, Autumn 1994.