23rd June 2019
Recently the Vegan Camp Out 2019 (VCO) told the local hunt sab group that they would no longer be welcome to hold a sab stall or give a talk, as they had done for the previous 2 years.
Their decision was made after the Pro-hunt Countryside Alliance pressured the venue to kick out sabs. The venue passed on this pressure to VCO organisers who immediately bowed to this blackmail and informed the sab group they were no longer welcome. No prior discussion was had with sabs or the HSA to work out a mutually beneficial strategy.
This is an incredibly naive decision by the VCO organisers. Capitulating to the countryside Alliance will encourage them to try this tactic again in the future and at other events. The VCO won’t confirm but we must assume they had a contract with the venue which would have been breached if the venue cancelled the Camp Out due to sab presence. It would also have cost the venue many thousands in lost revenue so they would have been highly unlikely to force the issue if the VCO had called their bluff.
If the VCO organisers had stood firm they would have scored an easy victory and gained many new supporters. In the worst case they could have agreed to the venues demands then allowed the stall to go ahead anyway. What would the venue have been able to do about it? The fact they chose neither of these options and capitulated so readily is a sad reflection on them. The VCO is a commercial enterprise and this seems to have been their primary motivation.
The Hunt Saboteurs Association has been active since 1963, and has successfully stood against legislation, violence and police oppression. We have a proud history of promoting veganism, long before it was a popular issue, and we’re entirely volunteer run. The Countryside Alliance hate us as we’re the most effective anti-hunting organisation in the country and they’re always looking for opportunities to try to damage us. As in this instance they’re almost always unsuccessful with their pathetic attempts. Despite the VCO cancelling our stall and talk we’ve received far more publicity and support as a result of this naive decision than we would have if we’d attended the Camp Out.
We thank those groups who aren’t attending the camp out in solidarity with hunt saboteurs and leave it up to individuals if they wish to attend this event. If anyone wishes to boycott this event and send us their entrance fee they can do so at: