The Hunt were back again today (30 March 2018). They met at Kingsland, the next farm along to Wheatland Farm.
Just the other day, Eggesford Hunt chairman Hugh Trerise was on BBC Spotlight, claiming the Eggesford Hunt only hunt trails laid by the huntsmen. So how come, 5 minutes after they set off, 20 or so hounds were following trails through Popehouse Moor Site of Special Scientific Interest, crossing Lower Newland Moor, and then eventually running in and out of the garden at Little Routh (our neighbours)?
There are no trails laid here unless someone trespassed and laid them, and surely not even the hunt is that stupid.
And even though the hunt has been formally warned off Wheatland Farm, a huntsman in full hunt gear came riding down the driveway, and as he rode back out again grinned and gave me a sarcastic wave.
A sarcastic grin and a wave….He knows, and we have come to learn, that the Police are not interested in upholding the hunting ban. Yes, we made another police complaint (DCP 2018 0330-0297), but we are not holding our breath that any action will be taken.
…but leaving in a hurry.After the last incursion in January, Huntsman Jason Marles came to talk to us. He undertook to let us know when a hunt was going to be near Wheatland Farm. He hasnt. We explained to him face to face, and later by letter, that the wildlife here was our livelihood and that anyway the regulations for our Site of Special Scientific Interest made hunting there illegal. He has taken no notice, and has taken absolutely no measures to ensure the hounds do not encroach on Popehouse Moor or the other land at Wheatland Farm.
We are not animal rights activists. We are not extremists. And although we’ve long-objected to hunting in principle, it has taken local hunts’ complete disrespect for our wildlife-based livelihood to really entrench our opinions.
Does the Eggesford Hunt just hunt trails? No. These people simply lie.
Just the same here. 30 years of living in harmony with our neighbours and the wildlife counts for nothing it seems.
We have had them blatantly chasing foxes across out Devon Wildlife Site, through the yard and garden. Our own horses injured when fences broken in panic etc.
I have been assured they will warn us when in the area, but it has not happened once…….
It’s enough to make me want a gun. But I feel sorry for their mistreated dogs and horses and I might hit one of them instead.
Yes, that sounds familiar! And it’s a whole day of stress and hassle every time. Where the hounds were making such a racket yesterday was just where I’d been watching a fox hunting in the snow outside Honeysuckle Lodge a few days earlier.
Please contact “Hounds Off” they will help you. Hope you have reported it to the Police. If they do nothing, tell them you are making a formal complaint to the PCC and the CC of the County. Also make it public in your area, contact local press. These hounds carry so many diseases that they could be infecting flora & fauna. I do hope you get a good reply, this hunt must not be allowed to continue with this.
Thanks Jacqui, yes, Hounds Off are a good source of advice. We did report this to the police and they were supposed to come see us, but they didnt. Instead, they responded to a call from the Hunt Sabs, and another from the Hunt, and left us out of the loop. However, on chasing this up we are getting a bit more of a response. In fairness to the Police, the Hunting Act is so poorly written it’s exceptionally hard for them to enforce the spirit of ‘hunting wild animals with dogs is illegal’. The law needs changing.
Jane, if you haven’t already been in touch with Hounds Off it might be worth making contact. Basically, they are advising what Rod (other comment here) is advising – documentation until there’s enough to request an injunction.
Beating the hunt is not difficult if you have good info. You need to ensure that the hunt is nit allowed on your land. Recorded dilvery to Master and Hunt Sec. Then monitor every incursion over a few months so that they cannot claim it is a one off. Then threaten them with an injunction with an 800mtr cordon sanitaire. If they are sensible as the hunt that i fought were they will behave if they are still reckless and disrespectful go for them. Good luck.
Thank you. A Cordon Sanitaire sounds like a great idea!
While the Hunt keeps coming we’ll keep documenting, until we have enough to make it stick. If they had any sense they’d impose their own cordon sanitaire for their own good, as we’re not chasing them across the county, just off Wheatland Farm. But you’re not the only person to tell us some Hunts don’t give up. So we will keep our guard up.