The case centred around allegations that the hunt had pursued a fox near Wombleton Airfield near Pickering on 16th December 2009. Four employees of the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) had covertly filmed the hunt and gathered evidence upon which the Crown Prosecution Service prosecution turned. The Judge ruled, however, that the Sinnington were not pursuing a fox seen crossing the airfield in the video, and that their activity was consistent with legal trail hunting. Only two packs of foxhounds have been successfully prosecuted since the Hunting Act came into force in February 2005.

Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance, Alice Barnard, commented: “We are very pleased for Tony, Caroline, Wilf and all supporters of the Sinnington Hunt. But there have to be questions surrounding why this case ever got to court. The case has taken up police and CPS time and three days in a Magistrates Court at taxpayers’ expense, all over a video of a fox that was not being hunted. Hunts must be able to carry out legal hunting and trail hunting without being dragged through the courts as a result of allegations made by animal rights groups. Whilst trying to operate within the Hunting Act innocent hunt staff and supporters are being subjected to the intense stress of investigation and prosecution. Today’s result has demonstrated yet again why the Hunting Act has failed and should be repealed.”

Hunts in around the country are welcoming new followers as part of the Countryside Alliance’s Hunting Newcomers’ Week. The week is designed to welcome those who have never followed the hunt to a day’s hunting, with the aim of educating riders and foot followers alike to the joys of legal hunting. Despite the Hunting Act, last year Hunting Newcomers’ Week welcomed over 5,000 new hunt supporters through the gates of hunting and was a great success nationwide.

Chloe Finch, Hunting Newcomers’ Week coordinator said; “Newcomers’ Week is a way of encouraging people who haven’t tried hunting to give it a go and learn what hunting has to offer. It is vital that hunts continue to welcome newcomers to ensure the sustainability of hunting post the repeal of the Hunting Act. Hunting is a fantastic way of enjoying the best of Britain’s countryside with likeminded people and is a great way to get out into the outdoors and learn and discover often inaccessible places in your local area. Following on from the success of 2009, hunts nationwide are keen to encourage newcomers through their gates in 2010. Those who wish to try hunting don’t even need a horse – a pair of wellies and a waterproof coat is all that is needed to follow the hounds on foot. Hunting is an inclusive pastime and Newcomer’s week welcomes those young and old. We look forward to meeting new hunt supporters in 2010!”

Further information can be found on the Countryside Alliance website www.countryside-alliance.org.uk or [email protected] 0207 840 9220 (office) 07738 456 074 (mobile)

In an extraordinary admission League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) Chief Executive Douglas Batchelor has explicitly accepted that it is impossible to support the argument that hunting is cruel.

Commenting on the appointment of Lord Donoughue as Chair of the Hunting Regulatory Authority and his proposal for a law to outlaw cruelty to wild mammals Mr Batchelor said: “Lord Donoughue is apparently planning to put forward some sort of Private Members Bill in the House of Lords which would make it an offence to be cruel to a wild mammal. The problem with that suggestion is that someone would actually have to be cruel to the animal before they could be charged with any offence. Trying to prove that the fox that the hounds had ripped apart and then eaten had suffered before it died, would be extremely difficult in court without a body to produce in evidence. Worse still such legislation would not actually make it a crime to deliberately chase or to set dogs onto a wild animal for sport.”

Countryside Alliance Head of Media, Tim Bonner, commented: “In one statement Mr Batchelor has fatally undermined the entire justification for the Hunting Act and indeed most of the other campaigns run by LACS. For decades the anti-hunting movement has argued that the very act of pursuing a mammal is cruel and should be prohibited to address animal welfare concerns. For decades the hunting community has argued that hunting is at least as humane as other methods of wild mammal management. Now, having successfully promoted the ridiculous Hunting Act on the basis of animal welfare, Mr Batchelor is admitting that LACS actually has no interest in legislation that actually addresses cruelty. For years we have argued that a prohibition on hunting had nothing to do with animal welfare and everything to do with a misplaced hatred of people who hunt. Now Mr Batchelor has accepted that the case against hunting is unproven, and unproveable, on welfare grounds and that it is the activity, rather than any impact on animal welfare, that so offends anti-hunting activists. Mr. Bachelor’s two predecessors, James Barrington and Richard Course, both left LACS when they came to the conclusion that banning hunting would be detrimental to animal welfare. This strange, but revealing, statement from Mr Batchelor suggests he too might be on the verge of a Damascene conversion. It is a small step from accepting that there is no animal welfare case against hunting to concluding that the campaign to prohibit it is unjustified and counter-productive.”

Simon Hart has stepped down as Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance following his election as MP for his home constituency Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire. In a letter to the Alliance Board Simon said: “After nearly eleven years at the Alliance and seven as its Chief Executive, I feel the time is now right for me to start the process of handing over to a successor. My recent election leads me to believe that this should be sooner rather than later. So it is for this reason that I offer the Board my resignation today. “As you know, I would be delighted to do what I can to ensure the smooth running of the organisation during the succession period and in whatever way I can both now and in the future”.

Kate Hoey MP, Chairman of the Alliance said: “Simon’s contribution to the Alliance has been enormous and whilst the board congratulates him on his election to Parliament we are also very sad to see him go. He has led the organisation and the countryside through unprecedented political battles. The continuing strength of the Countryside Alliance, the resilience of the rural community and the survival of hunting are due in no small part to his leadership. The process of identifying a replacement will now begin, and Simon has agreed to oversee the transition period and the handover of the role.”

19 April 2010: Countryside Alliance: Old Berkshire huntsman gallops to victory
Old Berkshire huntsman Michael Scott galloped to victory in the huntsman’s “Race for Repeal” at Ascot yesterday aboard his horse Roodolph. The six year old horse, trained by Eve Johnson-Houghton and owned by the Eden Racing syndicate, had not raced for eighteen months prior to his clear victory with Berkshire’s finest huntsman jockey aboard. Michael said after the race: “It was amazing. To be a part of the race was one thing, but to win was exhilarating. I didn’t even think about beating the others until I crossed the line! My horse, Roodolph, was clever and brave. He knew exactly what he was doing, and loved every minute. My wholehearted thanks go to Eve Johnson-Houghton and her team for training me for this race, and the Eden racing syndicate for the loan of such a fantastic horse. All the huntsman are enormously grateful to the owners and trainers who allowed us to ride their horses in this race.”

Michael was followed past Ascot’s famous winning post by Tony Holdsworth of the Duke of Beaufort’s hunt who was second aboard Trade Centre, Quantock Staghounds huntsman Richard Down, was third riding Ceepeegee and Mick Wills, who hunts the Grafton hounds, fourth on seven year old Talenti. All the huntsman got a wonderful reception into the Ascot winners enclosure from hundreds of supporters and received special bottles of champagne from Countryside Alliance President Ann Mallalieu.

The first Countryside Alliance “Countryside Race Day” at Ascot saw thousands of families come through the gates to enjoy a day of glorious sunshine, as well as added attractions such as terrier racing, falconry displays, rodeo bull riding, and hound parades. Johnnie Arkwright, who led the organising committee said: “The Race for Repeal was the jewel in the crown at what was a fantastic day at Ascot. Well done to Michael Scott for victory and hopefully he will not have to wait too long for the next major victory, which will of course be the repeal of the Hunting Act. The day raised tens of thousands of pounds for our campaigns and we have to thank everyone involved, especially Ascot Racecourse, for their support.”

Sign up to the Countryside Alliance Rural Manifesto by clicking the link: http://www.countryside-alliance.org.uk/blogcategory/rural-manifesto/

February 18th marks five years since The Hunting Act 2004 came into force in England and Wales. In those five years, there have been five hunt related convictions resulting from three separate prosecutions against hunts. So, just 5.7% of Hunting Act convictions up to 2008 involve hunts. The last person to do with a hunt to be prosecuted was in January 2008 and there was not a single successful prosecution involving a hunt in 2009. Independent polls* released by the Countryside Alliance in December 2009 found that 57% of people think the Hunting Act isn’t working and it’s time to put it out of its misery. A majority of the population (50%) also believes that a new Government should give Parliament a chance to repeal the ban.

Countryside Alliance Chief Executive Simon Hart commented: “This fifth anniversary marks five years of failure; the Hunting Act has failed at every level. It does not matter if you are the huntsman facing endless spurious allegations from animal rights activists, the policeman who wastes hours having to investigate them, the taxpayer desperate for the police to be able to concentrate on real crime or even the animal rights activist so desperate to see the end of hunting. There can be no excuse for keeping a law which wastes thousands of hours of police time and millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money. Our police and courts should be able to focus on real crime and real criminals, rather than wrestling with an unworkable hunting law. This should be the Hunting Act’s last birthday: whoever is in Government after the election must give Parliament the opportunity to repeal it.

The report was produced by some of Whitehall's most senior figures, including the former Cabinet secretary Lord Butler and Sir John Chilcott who is chairing the Iraq war inquiry. The report states that: “The media’s increasing appetite for policy initiatives has been a prime source of the high volume of often ill-thought out legislation….. A consequence has been that a higher proportion of Bills now enter Parliament incomplete, poorly explained, and requiring substantial amendment. That situation not only wastes scarce parliamentary time but also increases the likelihood that the resulting statute will need amending because it has proved unsatisfactory, or in some instances unworkable.”

Tim Bonner, Head of Media at the Countryside Alliance, said: “This report gives powerful independent backing to the case for repeal of the Hunting Act. It is a bad law passed for bad reasons so it is no surprise that it has failed so spectacularly. The endless warnings from inside and outside the Government that a refusal to legislate on the basis evidence and principle would lead to chaos were ignored. We now live with the consequence: an unworkable piece of legislation that has wasted thousands of hours of police time and millions of pounds of taxpayers money. The other examples of bad Government listed in the report have all been reversed. The Poll Tax was scrapped, the Child Support Agency replaced and the Millennium Dome sold off. Whoever is in Government after the election must also address the Hunting Act and give Parliament an opportunity to reverse it as well”.