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Tuesday, February 07 2012

Elham Boxing Day hunt attracts crowd of hundreds

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The scene in Elham as the East Foxhounds Hunt arrives in the High Street on Boxing Day.

The scene in Elham as the East Foxhounds Hunt arrives in the High Street on Boxing Day. Picture: Chris Davey

Organisers of the East Kent Hunt at Elham are hoping that this year’s event on Boxing Day is the last one they will be forced to use an artificial scent.

They have been spraying a scent for hounds to follow since the Hunting Act came into force in 2005.

But if the Conservative Party wins the general election, it has promised a free vote on the repeal of the Act.

This year’s hunt saw 48 mounted riders and a crowd of 800 hunt supporters pack into the village.

Nick Onslow of the East Kent Hunt said: “Boxing Day was another huge success and we just hope that come next Boxing Day we will be hunting real foxes again.

“The Hunting Act is a nonsense and was an act of class warfare, a spiteful  effort to hurt those in the hunting community.

“I know the Conservatives have got more important things to do like sort out the economy, but with this free vote and support in the party for a repeal of the Act, there is a chance of hunting properly again.”

The Hunting Act 2004 outlawed hunting with dogs particularly fox hunting, but also the hunting of deer, hares and mink and organised hare coursing.

What do you think? Write to us at Gazette House, 5-8 Boorman Way, Estuary View Business Park, Whitstable, CT5 3SE or email kentishgazette@thekmgroup.co.uk

Tuesday, December 29 2009

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  • Joanne Bell wrote:

    FOXHUNTING/SHAME ON CAMERON!

    Cameron and all his Tory Toffs educated at Eton & as seen on the recent Channel 4 programme "When Boris Met Dave" just prove beyond all doubt just how out of touch they really are with the ordinary bloke in the street ..... (who isn't actually a millionaire) .. if they think that to bring back fox hunting is a vote winner!
    What next... bring back sending kids up chimneys? Fox hunting should be consigned to the history books - like bear baiting, cock-fighting, hare coursing etc because its horrendously cruel, evil and unchristian!

    02 Jan 2010 5:56 PM

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  • Norman Bryant wrote:

    Foxhunting

    Dear Brian Blessed, you obviously have not been to a Hunt Meet so you do not know what you are talking about, yes there are some wealthy people that go Hunting and they may be able to employ staff to do some of the more unpleasant tasks but you will find that there are five times the amount who are not wealthy and the many foot followers that maybe can not afford to ride, don't want to ride, too old to ride or just enjoy watching the hunt. I think you need to clarify "Working Class" does that mean people with an income up to a certain amount, if so what would that be, what about Middle Class, does that still exist, are your arguments based purley on Class predjudice as it sounds like it and for chinless people would you like to jump a 5' hedge on a horse at full speed without brakes, as one might say "Ignorance is Bliss".

    31 Dec 2009 7:36 AM

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  • rkeen wrote:

    Get your names on the R.O.A.R.

    There is no case for repeal. Hunt numbers are up all over the country. Drag hunting is legal. The sense of community, pageantry, heritage, and jobs are all still intact and yet these disgraceful people can’t manage to enjoy themselves unless they are terrifying and killing animals.

    If the hunts can't ride within the law without 'accidents' then they can stop training their dogs to hunt and kill foxes!

    Please uphold the ban at the www.campaignfordecency.org website.

    30 Dec 2009 3:46 PM

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  • mhayworth wrote:

    No Case For Repeal

    There is no case for repeal. Hunt numbers are up all over the country. Drag hunting is legal. The sense of community, pageantry, heritage, and jobs are all still intact and yet these disgraceful people can’t manage to enjoy themselves unless they are terrifying and killing animals.

    Please if you support the hunting act, get your name on the R.O.A.R. (Register Online Against Repeal), an ‘all party’ list at: http://www.campaignfordecency.org.uk

    Please make your voices heard!

    30 Dec 2009 3:35 PM

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  • Geoffrey Woollard wrote:

    Shame on the Conservatives!

    The Hunting Act 2004 must not be repealed or otherwise undone. If anything, it needs strengthening so that we can be sure that chasing and killing wild animals for fun is clearly and for ever unlawful and regarded by all with well-deserved revulsion. If Cameron, Hague, Herbert, etc., think that repeal of the Act would be a vote winner in rural areas, they are very much mistaken.

    30 Dec 2009 2:31 PM

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  • Brian Blessed wrote:

    Hunting and stuff

    Oh come on Mr Bryant, wake up and smell the coffee old chap.
    Fox hunting is the preserve of the upper classes. The only working class people involved are those who look after the hounds, muck out the horses and serve the drinks at the start.
    Hunting is not the most efficient way of controlling the fox population, just an excuse for a load of chinless wonders to rampage through the countryside and watch on as a defenceless animal is ripped apart by a pack of dogs.
    And trust the posho KM to even bother giving these hunting people the oxygen of publicity. Shame on you!

    30 Dec 2009 12:07 PM

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  • Kevin Lear wrote:

    still out of touch

    To me,this is nothing to do with class. The Conservatives offering the house a free vote on the Hunting Act is just another example of how out of touch the political parties are with the electorate. Latest polls suggest 75% of the population still oppose hunting with dogs, but as ever the "man on the street" will be ignored. Yes, as usual politicians have decided that they know what is best for us. The Nanny state lives on.

    30 Dec 2009 11:16 AM

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  • Norman Bryant wrote:

    Hunting Act

    This act does need repeal as it is in a mess, the anti group are always make false allegations and calling out the Police who are taken away from more important Police work. The Hunting act had to be forced through Parliment useing the Parliment Act which in itself was a miause of an act, what is the point of having an Upper House if the Commons take no notice of it.
    Just as many Foxes are being killed in a far worse way than before, this was to have a go at the so called toffs in the Conservative Party which has really backfired, the Public have more important things to think about i.e. how much has this Labour Party cost us all.

    29 Dec 2009 10:19 PM

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  • Stu wrote:

    Can't these people find a new hobby?!

    As someone born and bred in the countryside, and very far removed from being a animal activist, I very much hope the Hunting Act remains in place. To say it is "class warfare" is absurd. Hunting is a bloodthirsty and cruel activity - a view shared by people across the country (town and countryside)and across class divides. Why can't these people just enjoy our wonderful countryside without needing to kill animals for sport?

    29 Dec 2009 5:49 PM

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