THE League Against Cruel Sports has urged huntsmen to show more compassion for their dogs after hunt monitors witnessed hounds being left tangled in barbed wire.

It is alleged that dogs from the Royal Rock Beagles in Cheshire struggled in the wire for several minutes.

Eventually, protestors claim, huntsman lifted the dogs over the fence during the hunt, which met at Belmont Hall in Great Budworth, on Saturday, March 1.

Douglas Batchelor, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, said: "Hunts claim that looking after their animals is a priority but this just proves they have no concern for the welfare of their hounds.

"They are simply treated as an expendable commodity, which can be used as a means to an end."

A bystander from Wincham, who witnessed the event but who does not wish to be named, added: "I would call on our local MPs to support a total ban on hunting with dogs - no compromise, no cop-outs.

"Only then will the countryside be free of the suffering and disruption caused by blood sports."

However, Peter Jones, master of the Royal Rock Beagles, said the hunt monitors had turned up for five minutes out of a four-hour hunt.

He said: "We have a pack of beagles which are working dogs and I take great pride in them.

"Like domestic dogs, they are jumping over barbed wire all the time. They don't damage themselves at all.

"On this particular day, these two people who call themselves hunt monitors were hindering us and getting in the way."

Published in the Northwich Guardian, 12th March 2003

Meet: Belmont Hall, Great Budworth - Saturday March 1st, 2003