26th May 2024
Hunt sabs have been in action against mink hunts at opposite ends of the country this week. On Friday, sabs from across Yorkshire shut down a meet of the Northern Counties Hunt; yesterday, North Dorset sabs confronted the Courtenay Tracy Mink Hounds on the riverbank.
In Yorkshire, sabs located the small group of hunters gathering in a sodden field by the River Wharfe near Selby. The hunters rushed to their vehicles as sabs appeared and – fearing they would escape and hunt elsewhere – sabs then blockaded the vehicles for over two hours. During the standoff, sabs piled on the misery by playing a selection of hits by the Backstreet Boys – all mink and otters in the vicinity are believed to have fled the scene at this point!
Once sabs were satisfied that no hunting would take place, they released the hunt vehicles and followed the hound van back to their kennels.
The following day, North Dorset Hunt Sabs found the Courtenay Tracy Mink Hounds hunting the River Cale near Marnhull, an area celebrated by locals for its thriving otter population. The hunters continued to disturb the sensitive riverside environment as they slowly headed back to the meet, with sabs keeping a close eye on them both in the field and via their drone.
An HSA spokesperson commented:
“Over the last 10 years, concerted action by hunt sabs has reduced the number of mink and otter hunts by around half – we reckon there are just nine of these packs still operating in 2024. Those that are struggling on have suffered a massive loss of support – both the Northern Counties and Courtenay Tracy hunts could attract dozens of supporters in their heyday, but neither could muster double figures this weekend.
However, the nine remaining hunts are still out targeting mink, otter and even beavers every week in the summer. They represent a serious threat to all wildlife and sabs will continue to target them over the coming months.”
https://www.huntsabs.org.uk/minkhunts-routed-north-and-south/
Thank you for sharing.Sadly, men do not understand that they are being cruel, inhumane,and heartless cowards. What is cowardly is brutalizing helplessanimals, which is what hunting does. Its’ similar to putting a 4-year old boy in a boxing ring with a heavyweight boxer.Its’ not sport or contest at all. You will never restore your manhoodor self-esteem by brutalizing animals. Men should be protectors, not victimizers. Hunting reminds me of the young males who get off on raising/breeding/and fighting pitbull dogs here in the U.S. Sadly, pitbulls become victims of the fighting rings. When females get pregnant and have puppies, many of them wind up in shelters where they are not usually adopted. Most pitbulls will be eutahnized in shelters as there are lots of them, and most humans will not adopt them. So the young males are not only harming pitbulls in cruel ways, they are also responsible for thousands of pibulls killed in shelters. Get rid of your anger in a positive way, be a real man andshow compassion and kindness to animals, protect instead of making them victims.
Wonderful comments–and so true! Perhaps if females ran the world, it might be kinder in general.