Animal rights groups said a sickening video showing a huntsman throwing a live fox to baying hounds was more evidence that legal trail hunting was being used as “a smokescreen” for illegal hunting with dogs.
Oliver Francis Thompson, 32, of Old Berkshire Hunt Kennels in Farringdon, swerved jail after admitting two animal welfare offences, one of which involved encouraging his dog to terrorise a captive fox.
In footage recorded in July 2020 that Thompson shared with his friends, he is shown with a young fox in a trap, with his Patterdale terrier Nellie being encouraged to bark and menace the animal at very close quarters.
Later, the fox is taken out of the trap by Thompson and, held by the scruff of his neck, is repeatedly thrust at the barking dog 19 times.
In a second incident filmed on Christmas Eve in December that year, Thompson, in a hunting jacket, digs a fox out of its earth, surrounded by people also wearing hunting jackets, terriermen and a child.
Every Boxing Day, hunting horns sound across the UK, as the hunts come out in force to celebrate the cruel ‘sport’ of fox hunting.
In reality, the pomp and pageantry are just a mask for the cold cruelty of their entertainment – illegally hunting innocent, defenceless animals to exhaustion.
The countdown to cruelty has began. Will you stand up for the foxes?
Help us stop hunts on Boxing Day and every other day of the year
£10 could help us call for stronger laws to protect UK wildlife such as getting hunting banned on all public land including our national parks
£20 could help us persuade landowners to stop hunting, enforce stricter conditions and revoke hunting licenses for criminal activity
We’d love to keep in touch. With your permission we’ll let you know the very latest news on our fast-moving campaigns, as well as appeals and other actions (such as petitions) so you can continue to help protect animals.
A joint team of UK and South African researchers carried out a survey on public opinion toward trophy hunting. The survey involved 1,000 people from countries that most frequently visit South Africa, both from within the African continent and overseas. It indicated universally strong opposition to the killing of South Africa’s lions for sport and revealed a desire to finance the protection of the nation’s iconic wildlife through paying a ‘lion protection fee.’
The key findings of the research revealed that 84.2% of those surveyed stated that being asked to pay an inbound tourist ‘lion protection fee’ was a ‘good’ or ‘great’ idea. The highest support was from overseas with the UK, U.S., and many European Countries in favor at92.3%. Those who live in Mozambique were in favour at 88.9%.
ANIMAL rights campaigners welcomed a total ban on snares and glue traps in Wales, which came into force yesterday.
Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths called it a “historic day” for animal welfare and said she is proud Wales is the first of the UK nations to introduce the move.
RSPCA Cymru’s Billie-Jade Thomas said: “We very much welcome the ban on snares and glue traps coming into force today.
A new Spanish law strengthens animal rights but exempts bullfights and hunting with dogs
MADRID (AP) — A new animal welfare law that took effect Friday in Spain outlaws the use of animals for recreational activities that cause them pain and suffering but allows bullfights and hunting with dogs.
Spain’s first specific animal rights legislation is intended to crack down on abuses. The law particularly targets the mistreatment of domestic animals, introducing fines of up to 200,000 euros ($212,000).
It bans the buying of pets in stores or online, but gives stores a grace period to find homes for their animals. In the future, it only will be legal to purchase pets from registered breeders. The new rules allow pets into most establishments, including restaurants and bars.
The law bans the use of wild animals at circuses and gives owners six months to comply. It allows zoos to keep using the marine mammals in their dolphin shows until the animals die.
Bullfights are regarded as part of Spain’s cultural heritage. A proposal to include hunting dogs in the law prompted an outcry in some rural communities, and the government backed down.
Government statistics estimate some 29 million animals are kept as pets in Spain, most of them dogs. But around 300,000 are abandoned each year, and about one-third of those are put down.
The law also aims to introduce mandatory pet insurance and registration as well as training for owners. However, those requirements and some other legal aspects were delayed because detailed administrative procedures have not been drawn up in the absence of a sitting government.
Spain’s July general election proved inconclusive, and political parties are in coalition-building talks.
They had already shot Amarena, perhaps several times, but with one substantial difference: it was small hunting pellets that hit the mother bear, symbol of Abruzzo, and not a 12 gauge bullet that killed her.
This is what emerged yesterday during the autopsy at the Zooprophylactic Institute of Teramo. The ball was first identified in the morning during x-rays at the university’s Veterinary Clinic and then extracted from Amarena’s carcass during the cadaveric examination in the afternoon, which ended almost at midnight.
The “warning” shots which essentially serve to scare and ward off the bear are a fairly common occurrence in park lands: the bear Stefano who was killed in Molise in 2013 already had the same wounds, i.e. a combination of warnings and a subsequent fatal shooting.
The autopsy discovery changes the narrative of the event, because now everything is in the hands of the ballistics expert Paride Minervini, whose report will be decisive in defining what happened. As judicial circles make clear, the reconstruction of the exact dynamics of the shot is crucial to define the responsibilities of the only suspect, Andrea Leombruni, for which it is essential to establish the timing, the choice of the weapon and the bullet, the distance, the trajectory and closing the house gate to block the bear.
The autopsy confirms, however, that it was a slow death, due to the blow which, having entered the lung from the side near the shoulder, irreparably compressed all the internal organs causing inevitable internal bleeding. A slow death to which Amarena would not have surrendered but against which she would have fought, trying several times to get up from the ground, in vain.
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Avevano già sparato ad Amarena, più volte forse, ma con una sostanziale differenza: a colpire la mamma orsa simbolo d’Abruzzo erano stati dei pallini piccoli da caccia, e non un proiettile calibro 12 che l’ha uccisa.
È quanto è emerso, ieri, durante l’autopsia all’Istituto Zooprofilattico di Teramo. La palla è stata prima individuata, in mattinata, durante le lastre alla Clinica Veterinaria dell’università e poi estratta dalla carcassa di Amarena durante la ricognizione cadaverica nel pomeriggio, terminata quasi a mezzanotte.
Gli spari di “avvertimento” che servono, in sostanza, per spaventare e allontanare l’orso, sono un fatto abbastanza comune nelle terre dei parchi: già l’orso Stefano che fu ucciso in Molise nel 2013 presentava le stesse ferite, ossia un connubio di avvertimenti e una successiva fucilata mortale.
La scoperta autoptica cambia la narrazione dell’evento, perché ora è tutto nelle mani del perito balistico Paride Minervini, la cui relazione sarà decisiva per definire l’accaduto. Come fanno capire gli ambienti giudiziari, la ricostruzione della esatta dinamica dello sparo è cruciale per definire le responsabilità dell’unico indagato, Andrea Leombruni, per cui risulta fondamentale stabilire la tempistica, la scelta dell’arma e del proiettile, la distanza, la traiettoria e la chiusura del cancello di casa per bloccare l’orsa.
L’autopsia conferma, comunque, che si sia trattato di una morte lenta, dovuta al colpo che, entrato nel polmone dal fianco vicino alla spalla, le ha compresso irrimediabilmente tutti gli organi interni provocando un’inevitabile emorragia interna. Morte lenta a cui Amarena non si sarebbe arresa ma contro cui avrebbe lottato, tentando più volte di alzarsi da terra, inutilmente.
WAV Comment – Bet he was wearing full combat gear when he murdered her; cos hunters have to dress up as real tough men you Know ? ! ? – we know that the killer was a hunter; and the ‘self defence’ issue has been kicked well into the grass; he killed because like all hunters, he just has a blood lust which goes against the norm – he enjoys killing. But we understand that fortunately, he is now getting a hard time.Lest really hope that the cubs are found by the search teams; and that one day they can go hunting for revenge.
A popular female bear has been shot dead on the outskirts of a town in central Italy and a man has claimed he opened fire out of fear.
The bear, named Amarena, was filmed earlier this week roaming around the town of San Sebastiano Dei Marsi with her two cubs.
Local governor Marco Marsilio said no bear in the Abruzzo region had ever threatened residents with any danger.
The governor said on social media that the killing was incomprehensible and was a “very grave act against the whole Abruzzo region which leaves pain and anger”.
The man who killed the animal was identified and questioned by local police.
“I shot out of fear, but I didn’t want to kill. I found her inside my property and it was an impulsive, instinctive act,” he was quoted as saying by Ansa news agency.
Park director Luciano Sammarone told Ansa that the bear had crossed a private fence, but people should reserve judgement until it was established what had happened. “However, I’m struggling to believe this was a matter of self-defence.”
“Amarena was a symbol of the park,” said Piero Genovesi, head of Italy’s wildlife service Ispra. “Everybody loved her. She was so frequently observed; she was never aggressive.”
Continue reading and watch the video of the innocent bear amongst town folk at:
I do not aim for this to be a politically biased site – in my view they are all liars and make false election promises which thereafter they often fail to keep.
For those of you who are non UK resident, we have here 2 main political parties – namely the Conservatives and Labour. The Conservatives (Tories) form the current government with a majority of MPs, and Labour is in opposition.
The Tories have been in power for 12 years,following the General Election in May 2010.
Many people now consider it is time for a change.
There will almost certainly be a General Election where citizens vote for a government in 2024.
Each party has an area associated with animal welfare – and here are the links:
After Brexit, we were promised legislation to ban the export of live animals for slaughter and further fattening. Despite personally being involved in a government consultation; at wich I personally presented over 50 A4 pages of evidence as to why live transport should be banned; the Tories have now pulled the plug and are not moving on with this – see last link for more.
CAWG says:
We have been disappointed by moves to drop the long-promised Consultation on animal welfare labelling, and the discontinuation of the Kept Animals Bill (which included an end to live exports for fattening and slaughter). While we remain supportive of the Government’s approach to deliver these measures through alternative legislative vehicles, we fear not all of these can become law before the next General Election.
Maybe not as disappointed as you will be at the next General Election !!
We now wait for Labour to move forward with the issue – animal welfare is a big vote winner – the problem is some political parties do not recognise this.
As I previously said, this site is not politically biased; I attempt to proide info and some links, as I have done here, and then individuals can further research as required.
World Animals Voice 