Liberty & Livelihood

HUNTERS in Cambridgeshire have vowed to carry on - despite a Commons vote sounding the death knell for the countryside pursuit.

MPs have voted to reject a plan to allow regulated fox hunting - but hunt members were out in force today and have vowed to continue.

The Fitzwilliam Hunt sent a defiant message when it met at Alconbury Weston.
George Bowyer, joint master of the Fitzwilliam, sent the hounds off, saying: ">
He then told the News: "We have no intention of stopping at all. How we do it is going to be something we will have to discuss with the lawyers and see what happens."
He said that if the ban goes through there would still be three months when hunting would continue. But he claimed a ban would prove un-enforceable because police would have difficulty deciding who was hunting and who was just a spectator, and there was also a question of whether hunt followers were part of the hunt.

He said seven employees of the hunt could lose their jobs and accommodation under the ban.
He added there would be "a massive knock on effect" on businesses linked to hunts including farriers and livery stables.

Mr Bowyer said six or seven hunts operated in the Huntingdon area and it would be impossible for them to go over to drag hunting, since there was already one drag hunt, the Cambridge University, which covered the area.

Sacha Wheatley, joint-master of the Cambridge Hunt and Enfield Chace, which has its kennels in Caxton, said: "I have signed a declaration saying we will carry on hunting if there's a ban.
"I think it's an unjust law. Do you just bend down to unjust laws, or do it anyway? From my personal point of view, I would say yes I will carry on hunting.
"We don't do any harm to anyone. It's the most natural way of culling foxes."
The 34-year-old said she was "very disappointed" by the vote.
"I thought the MPs might go for the licensing bill, but I am not altogether surprised. I don't really now what's going to happen now."

Huntsman Paul Roberts has also signed the declaration to carry on hunting. I think the law will be un-policeable," he said.
"Say 50 of us go out hunting. What are they going to do, arrest us all? What are they going to do with the horses and hounds then?"
Mr Roberts, who looks after the hounds at Caxton, and his wife Debbie, 36, who cares for the horses, would lose their jobs and home if a ban came in.
"I am absolutely disgusted by it. It's a class thing, nothing to do with anything else like animal welfare," said the 46-year-old.
"They see people on horses in scarlet coats and think they're toffs, but we're certainly not."

Elsewhere, The Fitzwilliam Hunt met on Wednesday in Alconbury - just hours after MPs voted to ban the practice.
The Commons voted by 321 to 204 on Tuesday night against allowing regulated hunting of foxes to continue. MPs had already rejected a Lords amendment to allow licensed hunting of foxes, stags and hares.

The Hunting Bill returned to the Lords on Wednesday. If no agreement is reached before the end of Parliament on Thursday, the Government could use the Parliament Act to force it through.

However, the Countryside Alliance could then mount a legal challenge against the legality of the Act.

Douglas Batchelor, chief executive of the League, told the News: "For the 10th time in 10 years the House of Commons has made it clear. MPs want to see a complete ban on hunting and coursing with dogs and they voted accordingly.
"We believe it's the right thing to do and in this century people engaging in blood sports for entertainment is no longer appropriate."
He said the police had "made it clear" they would enforce the ban "We live in a democracy and people are expected to observe the law," he said.