6 September 2011
Hounds ‘filmed pursuing fox on to Somerset railway’
The fox was filmed on the railway running from a pack of houndsHounds from a Somerset hunt have been filmed apparently pursuing a fox, an animal welfare group has claimed.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) said the fox was shown running on a railway line at Clapton.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-14797560 please read the full article on this link.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0141mfd/BBC_Points_West_05_09_2011/?t=0m50s Watch the full video report as aired on television by BBC Points West. The news item reported that the police have announced an investigation into the incident of the hounds being on railway tracks.
05 September 2011 Incompetent Hunt’s hounds end up on railway line by The League Against Cruel Sports.
‘The League Against Cruel Sports has described the Seavington Hunt as “incompetent, hopeless, and careless” after its hounds strayed onto a railway line in their second serious incident in eighteen months.
In February 2010, three of the Seavington’s hounds were killed in collisions with cars on the A303 near Tintinhull, Yeovil.
On Saturday, hunt monitors from IFAW filmed a fox running down the main London to Exeter train line, with hounds close behind. The film broadcast by the BBC showed hounds on the train tracks for up to two minutes.
The hunt claimed to be hunting an artificial scent. But Joe Duckworth, chief executive of the League said that only a fool would lay an artificial scent near a busy dual carriageway or railway line.
“The Seavington have been caught with their pants down twice in two years,” said Mr Duckworth. “Questions have to be asked about what they’re up to.”
The Countryside Alliance promised a full investigation, a move dismissed by Mr Duckworth. “They did nothing after the last incident and the Masters of Fox Hounds Association which claims to regulate hunts did nothing despite the distress and inconvenience they caused to members of the public,” he said. “If they really were a reputable organisation that cared about the countryside, they’d take action against the idiots that allow incidents such as this to happen.”
“The carnage this hunt could have caused doesn’t bear thinking about,” said Mr Duckworth. “They should give up hunting and go for a pastime that doesn’t lead them to create such pandemonium in the countryside.’
Conservatives Against Fox Hunting :
National newspapers have sometimes reported the traffic chaos that out of control hounds belonging to Hunts have inflicted on public roads and railway tracks.
Pack hounds have also been killed by cars on public roads .In February 2010, three of the Seavington’s hounds were killed in collisions with cars on the A303 near Tintinhull, Yeovil. The incidents of Hunt hounds on railway tracks could pose dangerous consequences to the lives of those unconnected with hunting such as train passengers.Those in the hunting community have a responsibility and a duty of care to the hounds they hunt with and to the local community to ensure that their minority sport does not disrupt and impact upon the majority of the public who do not engage in hunting with hounds.
The latest incident follows other previous national news items where Hunt hounds have sometimes been reported on the railway tracks in the past and even killed in some cases, as the links below testify:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1388622/Hunt-hounds-killed-by-train.html Telegraph- Hunt hounds killed by train
http://www.northwichguardian.co.uk/yoursay/yourletters/7989739.Hunt_is_not_above_the_law/
http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/4838874.Hounds_killed_on_rail_track_near_Wootton_assett/ Hunt hounds killed on railway tracks
http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Hunt-going-rail-line-risked-lives/story-13287590-detail/story.html
