The East Kent published the following Press Release on
Tuesday 27/12/05.
By 10:30am the crowd had
begun to gather in Elham Square ready to cheer the
arrival of the hounds and mounted field. For the first
time in many years there was no small band of anti-hunt
protestors calling for a ban as the Hunting Act had come
into force in February 05. By 11am they numbered some 700
and waited patiently while a car was removed from the
area inside the barriers. Supporters who had previously
been on the receiving end of Animal Rightists' abuse were
heard to consider the possibility of a booby
trap.
Eventually the sound of a
hunting horn brought a great cheer that welcomed the pack
into the Square with some 60 mounted
followers.
Riders and supporters
chatted and enjoyed a stirrup cup before Nigel Fisher,
the Senior Joint Master, addressed the crowd. His
assurances that the East Kent Foxhounds had certainly not
given up in the face of the Hunting Act were met with
another cheer that carried the hunt out of the Square and
off to open country and the first trail of the
day.
The pack engaged in the
legal activity of trail hunting: a stuffed sock had been
soaked with scent made from foxes and then this was
pulled along behind a quad bike.
The pace was fast and
furious with a number of riders taking tumbles. At the
end of the afternoon supporters gathered in the tack room
to talk about the day. Their conclusion was that, for
those whose first love was riding, at speed, across
country it had been a good day. All were resolute that
they would continue to support the hunt and in the
ongoing battle to see the Hunting Act
repealed.
Nick Onslow, an East Kent
Hunt supporter, said:
"Walking around the
Square, talking to visitors and new faces it was plain
that they were delighted to see us continue the tradition
and angry that the government had seen fit to interfere
with the sport."
"Today we had another
glimpse of how much support hunting has with huge crowds
gathering at nearly 300 meets across the country. The
Hunting Act doesn't work - it has achieved nothing for
animal welfare, it jeopardises rural livelihoods, it puts
at risk the contribution that field sports makes to
bio-diversity and hasn't even achieved its sponsors'
major aim which was to destroy a culture that 'Old
Labour' detests."
