Hey there ! Don't think I don't appreciate you coming around, but you should really get yourself over to the all new Chiltern Hunt Sabs Site it's a lot better than this 7 year out of date rubbish !

Setting the record straight

Hunt Sabotage is an activity that has received a lot of bad press from hunting organisations. The BFSS (British Field Sports Society - political pressure group in favour of hunting) commands a large budget, much of which is channeled through Janet George’s ( Chief Press Officer) Press Office. On the contrary the Hunt Saboteurs Association is an umbrella group for all those people involved in direct action against bloodsports, has an extremely limited budget and an office staffed entirely by volunteers whose press releases are often ignored by the media. This is our chance to set the record straight on the fallacies that have emanated from the BFSS.

Lie
Hunt Saboteurs are violent and abusive, often attacking hunt riders who are only indulging in a legal sport.
Truth
Hunt Saboteurs have a policy of non-violent direct action and our only concern is the welfare of hunted animals . When abuse or violence do occur, it is almost always as a result of the hunters’ actions. In years of hunt sabotage it is continually the sabs who are hit, beaten with whips, have property and cars damaged and in two exceptional cases have even been killed at the hands of the hunt and its followers. For more information on hunt violence see our leaflet ‘Hunt Thugs - The truth about violence in the hunting community’

Lie
Hunt Saboteurs whip and spray hounds with chemicals and have often harmed horses aswell.
Truth
This is utter rubbish. Hunt Saboteurs are only present at hunts to stop unnecessary suffering to ANY animals. Whips are used to control dogs in exactly the same manner as the hunt masters themselves. No physical contact is ever made, it is the crack of the whip which the dogs respond to. Any sprays used within hunt sabotage are harmless solutions of citronella oil, which is used to mask the foxes scent from the hounds (and to deter insects).

Lie
Hunt Saboteurs attend hunts not for the sake of the quarry, but as terrorists against the rich, wealthy people who hunt.
Truth
We regard the issue of class as entirely irrelevant to the central moral issue of cruelty. Saboteurs come from all backgrounds, age groups, professions and political points of view. On the other side of the coin, the worst perpetrators of cruelty and violence at hunts are terriermen who are solidly working class. So-called class struggle is deliberately used to cloud the issue and provide a handy diversion for hunters unable to defend themselves on moral grounds to spread alarm about "sinister political extremists". Perhaps they mean people like the now-famous "Granny Group" of saboteurs in Surrey? Every one of this brave group of senior citizens is over 60 and there's not a mohican among them. Unfortunately this does not seem to exempt them from violent attacks by hunt thugs. Or perhaps the hunt lobby mean such notorious class warriors as Rev. Bert Jones, a 65-year old church minister, who has been a hunt saboteur for three years. Although many saboteurs believe in a free classless society, this is never an issue when sabbing. The hunt too range dramatically on the class scale. It is people’s barbarism which is opposed, not their class.

Similarly, the word terrorist is frequently flung about in an attempt to smear genuine animal lovers, often coupled with lurid tales of bomb attacks. In June 1990, hunt supporter John Newberry-Street gained much valuable anti-saboteur publicity when a nail-bomb was found under his Land Rover. Further investigation revealed that he had planted the bomb himself and he later told police "I did it to discredit the animal rights saboteurs". He was jailed for nine months for his bomb hoax and asked for several other similar offences to be taken into account.

Lie
Hunt saboteurs know nothing of country ways and only seek to destroy rural societies and traditions which are no part of their urban lives.
Truth
A great many hunt saboteurs were born and live in the areas they sab in, taking a keen interest in their surroundings. At the same time, many hunters are city & town dwellers. Hunt saboteurs tend to know a great deal about hunting tactics and the habits of hunted animals. Very frequently the riders on a hunt know very little, treating hunting as a social event and never seeing a fox from one week to the next.

Lie
Hunt saboteurs are paid to disrupt hunts, acting like vigilantes.
Truth
Apparently hunt sabs are paid everytime they go out by persons varying from Linda McCartney to the KGB, if the hunt are to be believed. We can only say that if we were being paid, we would be sabotaging hunts every day of the week. Sab groups are totally autonomous and funded by donations and hard work. The hunt saboteurs association acts as an umbrella group but many sabs are not subscribers to the HSA, each acts on his or her conscience alone.
As Stephen Loveridge, BFSS press officer, admitted in a letter in January 1994:
"We know full well that there is no evidence that saboteurs are paid, and I am sure that they are not"

Lie Hunt sabotage is a criminal offence and offenders should be prosecuted for disrupting hunting Truth Hunt sabbing is not illegal! The Criminal Justice Act 1994 has made some areas of hunt sabbing difficult . Technically, trespassing to sab is now against the law and this tactic is avoided if humanly possible, but even when breaking the law, the sabs commit no worse offence than hunters trespassing on private land, golf courses, railway lines and main roads. Strangely this is often ignored. Hunt sabs are often seen as the problem in a confrontation, very often this is a misjudgement.

In essence the guiding force behind sabbing is this: Whilst laws and opinions wait to be changed, the hunts of Britain are killing tens of thousands of innocent animals each and every year from fox cubs at 4 months old to the near endangered brown hare and the common fox.

As long as this carnage continues, the hunt saboteurs will be present to stop it. If this results in their own injury or personal imprisonment, many feel the result is justified. Hunt sabotage saves lives and this is why so many lies and so much disinformation is leveled against us. The hunt saboteurs are no angels of mercy, but in a cruel society we are all these animals have.

Chineapple Palace

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