Liverpool Hunt Sabs have been very busy over the past few months continuing to be active on the ground in the Cheshire Cull Zone.
We’ve found badger setts blocked and interfered with throughout the post cull period and despite the best efforts of the cull operators to kill the Cheshire badgers during the cull we have found the overwhelming majority of our targeted setts to be very active. Information collated by our frequent field checks & widespread use of covert trail cameras have shown numerous badger cubs have been sighted, as well as plenty of fresh latrines & recent excavations recorded and already signs of perturbation and relocation of badgers from previously targeted setts to new sett locations.
30 years ago today, on the 9th of February 1991, hunt saboteur Mike Hill was killed at a meet of the Cheshire Beagles. Towards the end of the day’s hunting, with sabs having prevented any kills, the huntsman boxed up his hounds in a small blue trailer being towed by an open-top pick-up truck. The kennel huntsman, Allan Summersgill, along with another man, jumped into the pick-up and on impulse, three sabs who were nearby, jumped onto the back of it to prevent them driving the pack to another location to continue hunting. Summersgill drove off at high speeds down winding country roads for 5 miles with the terrified sabs clinging onto the back. It is thought that Mike jumped from the pick-up as it slowed to take a bend but failed to clear the truck properly and was caught between the truck and the trailer, which crushed him. Mike died where he lay in the road.
Despite the thud, and the screams of the other sabs, Summersgill continued driving for a further mile. The truck only came to a halt when one of he sabs smashed the rear window of the cab. The sab was hit with a whip as he tried to stop the truck. Once it had stopped one sab ran back to Mike’s prostrate body while the other ran to a nearby house to call for an ambulance. Summersgill drove off. He later handed himself in at a police station. No charges were brought against him and in a travesty of justice, a verdict of accidental Death was brought at the inquest.
Here, a longstanding member of Liverpool Hunt Saboteurs remembers Mike, and the extreme violence that sabs were met with generally throughout that period. Violence which, although to a lesser extent, still continues to this day.
Mike cared deeply about injustice and cruelty towards animals and humans alike. A naturally kind and caring person who was willing to put hard work into fighting for what he believed in. He loved being with animals and doing rescue work. It was a natural thing for him to get involved with the anti-hunt movement. We would talk about the danger of disrupting the hunts. Sometimes we would make light of it as a coping mechanism but very often the conversation would focus on who was the latest person to be attacked or what we could do to protect ourselves.
Mike cared deeply about injustice and cruelty towards animals and humans alike
So although it was a shock to hear that Mike had been killed, it came as no surprise to most of us. In fact it was a miracle that we had survived the violence for so long without a fatality. The shock wasn’t just because he was a friend but because Mike was such a gentle and compassionate human being. The violence in Cheshire and North Wales towards anyone opposing hunting had been relentless for years and continued at a high level for many years after Mike’s death. Hunt Sabouters were particularly hated by the Hunt and their often psychopathic supporters, many of whom ended up going to prison for violent crime, rape and child abuse unrelated to hunting. As for crimes against hunt saboteurs, the police turned a blind eye to even the most extreme use of violence. There was no let up after Mike’s death and the hunt supporters would regularly chant ‘One Nil, One Nil’ at us. As far as they were concerned Hunt Sabs were a thorn in the side of the Hunting establishment and they were determined to literally beat us into submission. Pick up trucks would pull up full of masked men brandishing iron bars, golf clubs and baseball bats. They would lay into anyone they could get hold of. One follower would regularly single out a sab, produce a shotgun and tell them he was going to kill them as soon as he could get them on their own. A Liverpool sab was held down and had his legs broken with stone boulders. A particularly violent hunt supporter was nicknamed the Grim Reaper as he would follow us wearing a long hooded jacket, often carrying a scythe. The attacks over the years were relentless and yet Mike and other brave people continued to save the hunted animals and expose the hunters as elitist sadists. The police were always there to help protect the hunt with no regard to the crimes they were committing or the terrible cruelty they were inflicting upon the animals.
It would be easy to single out red neck psychopaths as the source of most of the violence but the rich and powerful would regularly get involved. Judges, Lords, famous horse trainers and ‘celebrity’ jockeys were all part of the violence. The riders would use their horses as weapons or the metal ends of their riding crops to split our heads open as they rode past. The use of vehicles to drive directly at sabs was probably the most cynical attempt to hurt sabs. They would laugh when you managed to dive out of the way and when they struck a sab they would claim you had stepped out in front of them without looking. They regularly covered their vehicle number plates to avoid identification. The police did almost nothing to prevent them. The violence didn’t stop at the scene of the hunt. The homes of hunt sabs in Liverpool, Manchester and North Wales were targeted by hit squads. Homes and vehicles were smashed and sabs viciously attacked. Dead foxes and other animals were nailed to front doors.
The violence from hunt staff and supporters has never gone away although it is less intense than it used to be. Every year sabs are still attacked, hospitalised and some are lucky to have survived their injuries. The fact that we have smart phones and Go pro’s means we can record and expose the hunts in a way we never could when Mike was sabbing. The police and the CPS are almost as biased as they ever were and have to be shamed into taking any action against the hunts. However, the hunts are steadily losing the battle. Prosecutions slowly mount up and public opinion is still on our side.
Mike would be proud of all the hunt sabs that have kept on fighting against animal cruelty. We knew it was going to be a long struggle and the price we have paid has been great. Mike should always be remembered for his gentle kindness, compassion and because he made the world around him a better place.
Adam and his fiancé live next door to the Orchards Farm.
Adam has been spotted driving around the cull zone late at night trying to harass and intimidate anti cull activists. On at least two occasions he threw fireworks out of his vehicle at sabs and wounded badger patrols. If you see his vehicle out and about please report it to police as he’s likely to have explosives in his car.
Joined some of our northern comrades yesterday and paid a visit to the Holcombe harriers. We found them at the Robin Hood pub in Tottington.
Sabs stuck with the hunt most of the day. The hounds managed to put up a few hares during the day but Sabs were on hand to ensure they all made a clean getaway.
We lost them towards the end of the day due to being blocked in by hunt supporters and one attempting to try and put down our tyres but Sabs spotted him and made sure no damage was done to our van.
Shortly after the huntsman decided to call it day and we left once the hound where put away.
Sabbing can be dangerous with many of us experiencing violence and aggressive behaviour from huntsmen and hunt supporters. We are looking to raise funds in order to buy a new small body camera which will enable us to film the hunts discretely and ensure we capture vital evidence which may lead to a prosecution. A body camera will also help us to document any illegal hunting, giving us concrete evidence and ensuring a conviction.
We are very happy to announce that we now have a dedicated merchandise website. Currently we only have our new T-shirts in store but soon stickers, badges, postcards and more will be available to buy. All money raised through sales will help keep us in the fields and out protecting our wildlife.
Last year on the 21st of Feb we witnessed the killing of a fox by the York & Ainsty South Hunt on the land of Sir Reginald Sheffield(David Cameron’s Father in law). Despite the police on the day not willing to take any action we reported it to North Yorkshire police and a wildlife officer was assigned to the case.
We had video evidence of the huntsman encouraging hounds through the woodland and the aftermath of the kill, which showed the whipper-in and hounds running away from the lifeless fox. We managed to recover the body of the fox and it was taken by North Yorkshire Police so an autopsy could be performed.
After finally being able to speak to someone within North Yorkshire Police we received this response today “The case was fully reviewed by RSPCA and a case progression manager from North Yorkshire Police and a decision was made that we had insufficient evidence to pursue a prosecution under the Hunting Act 2004. During the investigation a number of issues were identified as not ‘best practice’ therefore we held a meeting with the master of the hunt to discuss these issues with him.
So despite all the evidence and also video footage of the hunt chasing numerous deer throughout the day the hunts only punishment was a meeting with the police regarding their behaviour.
Having not been given any more information we have decided to put in a Freedom of Information request regarding the outcome of the autopsy of the fox and also for the disclosure of what was said in this meeting between the police and the hunt master. We will update everyone once we receive a response.
Hunt saboteurs witnessed a fox being killed by the York & Ainsty South Hunt on the 21st Feb 2015.
The hunt had met at Sutton Park, North Yorkshire which is owned by Sir Reginald Sheffield the PM’s father in law. Hunt Saboteurs from Liverpool, Sheffield,West Yorkshire and various Scottish groups had attended the hunt and a saboteur from Liverpool witnessed the fox being killed by the hounds.
The hunt saboteur had seen the fox bolt from the woods and tried his best to stop the hounds from chasing it. Once he exited the woodland he witnessed a whipper-in dismounting her horse and trying to take the fox’s body away. The whipper-in then noticed the saboteur and quickly left the scene.
The York & Ainsty South hunt have claimed that they were legally trail hunting and that “It’s not unusual for hunt saboteurs to make up such stories.”
The hunt saboteurs have footage of the days events which has all provided to police as evidence. The body of the fox was also handed to police who will carry out a post mortem on the body to determine how the fox died.
Paul Myers, ex-master of the hunt deliberately rammed into a saboteurs van this Saturday (31.01.15).
Saboteurs from Liverpool, Sheffield and Manchester paid a visit to the Airedale beagles on Saturday. Sabs had positioned themselves on either side of the kennels to ensure the hunt would not leave and start illegally hunting.
Photo via Sheffield Hunt Sabs
Around 11.30am a pickup truck towing a trailer full of hounds left the kennels. Paul Myers who was driving the pickup, decided he would repeatedly ram into Sheffield Saboteurs van. Luckily sabs inside the van were not injured and the van only received minor cosmetic damage. The pickup wasn’t so lucky and with the bumper hanging off, Mr Myers drove the 100 yards back to the kennels and waited for the police to arrive.
Photo via Manchester Hunt Sabs
Overall 5 police cars attended the scene but felt it was not necessary to arrest Mr Myers. Video footage and photos of the incident will be handed into West Yorkshire police and we hope appropriate action will be taken.
Not fazed by the aggressive actions of the hunt, saboteurs stayed put outside the kennels for the rest of the day ensuring the Airedale Beagles would not be able to go out hunting.
First we joined up with W Yorkshire Sabs and decided to pay a visit to the High Peak Harriers. We had received word that they had delayed their start due to the weather conditions, so parked up at their kennels and waited for them to move. It got to about 1.30 and with the conditions not any better plus the fact 2 sab van were waiting outside; they decided not to go out. Hounds were fed so we left knowing they wouldn’t be hunting with full bellies.
With the Meynell and South Staffs Hunt not far from us, we decided to head down to them and join up with Manchester Hunt SabsNottingham Hunt Saboteurs and Derby Huntsabs. On arrival sabs had just successfully rated hounds and ensured the escape of a fox.
We headed off to intercept the hunt. Once our sabs headed into the fields the hunt immediately became aggressive. A rider decided to ride down one of our sabs and the terriermen proceeded to start driving into sabs with their quads. For the rest of the day they threatened us and tried to intimidate us but we have seen it all before and it didn’t deter us. With sabs in every direction they turned, the hunt decided to call it a day and headed back to their meet at around 3.
A very successful day. Two hunts sabotaged and no kills.
Liverpool Hunt Sabs have been very busy over the past few months continuing to be active on the ground in the Cheshire Cull Zone.
Hunt on the land of Sir Reginald Sheffield(David Cameron’s Father in law). Despite the police on the day not willing to take any action we reported it to North Yorkshire police and a wildlife officer was assigned to the case.
Liverpool Hunt Saboteurs 