Op-Ed: The RSPCA could lose its royal patronage unless that Charity turns a blind eye to hunting cruelty.

A source close to Prince Charles said he is concerned that the RSPCA has become ‘something else’ other than an animal welfare organisation. The Prince doesn’t stipulate what that ‘something else’ might be, but for those who know of his close associations with blood sports, it’s not hard to guess.

In 2012, the RSPCA brought a successful prosecution against Richard Sumner and Julian Barnfield, of the Heythrop Hunt. Each man pleaded guilty at Oxford magistrate’s court to four charges of unlawfully hunting a wild fox with dogs. The hunt, Heythrop Hunt Limited, also pleaded guilty to the same four charges of intentionally hunting a fox with dogs on land in the Cotswolds. The defendants prevaricated until almost the end of the trial before coming clean, with the result that the RSPCA was forced to rack up huge legal bills if they wanted to win their case.

None in the hunting set thought that breaking the law on hunting foxes would ever have returned a guilty verdict in court, and even the judge, who although he had no remit to do so, saw fit to criticise the amount of money spent on the prosecution.

Boxing Day, the pinnacle of the fox hunter’s calendar and the Countryside Alliance (CA), that bastion of all that’s wrong in the countryside, began proclaiming the day as ‘massive’ for hunting with over 300 hunts parading, and thousands of supporters.

The Master of Fox Hounds Association (MFHA) who was a little more modest in its claims, stated 33 hunts had tuned out.

Chocolate box scenes of gentlemen (and women) in scarlet jackets with a sea of hounds surrounding their horses paraded in town squares across merry England. This neo-feudal scene of distasteful support for a cruel sport was trumpeted as a huge success by the hunting fraternity, although they were careful to keep the hunt bully boys, the terrier men, with their spades, nets, quad bikes and dogs in little boxes, well out of sight.

The pro-hunting press was full of pictures of bucolical splendour with rosy cheeked children playing with the hounds whilst the Hunt Masters and general rag tag of hangers on got high on stirrup cups and the buzz of impending slaughter.

The hunt saboteurs were there too of course, and after the ceremonies they followed the hunts to ensure they kept within the law; a small army of heroes who know full well the cruelty and the sadism behind the spectacle. The sabs were out in force to protest, but also to protect the vulnerable animals and where possible to save lives.

Tim Bonner, the recently appointed CEO of the Countryside Alliance, who never misses a chance to abuse those against blood sports, or to complain that the hunting Act is not worth the paper it’s written on, took to Twitter to proclaim that Boxing Day 2015 proved that hunting was more popular than ever. Meanwhile, the Southdown and Eridge hunt in Lewes, Sussex, was one of several hunts treated to an angry display of anti-hunt protesters with banners who kept up the chant ‘Only scum kill for fun’.

Further north, in urban and rural areas people were trying desperately to rescue their possessions from the rising flood waters of swollen rivers which had burst their banks.  Fire crews, police and the RSPCA were out helping to save lives both animal and human. The Countryside Alliance, who profess to support rural communities were nowhere to be seen. Not even a tweet from those self-styled guardians of the countryside on the subject of the devastation and the plight of farmers and their livestock. Where were they all? They were too busy supporting the hunters, and bemoaning the fact that even with all of their influence in Westminster they still hadn’t managed to bring about repeal.

The CA took another body blow when George Monbiot of the Guardian newspaper and Dr Mark Avery, consultant and expert in ornithology and natural history, suggested that the flooding was due to the bad management of the grouse moors above cities and towns. Hebden Bridge, in West Yorkshire, was one of the areas badly affected by floodwaters pouring off  grouse moors where ancient peat bogs had been damaged and acres and acres of old heather burned to produce young heather shoots (the favourite food of grouse chicks) ready for next seasons IN-glorious 12th. Grouse shooters are charged with having a big part to play in causing the flooding by ruining the ground which would have soaked up much of the run-off water. For good measure they were also blamed for poisoning soil and water with their lead ammunition.

So worried are people about the floods and the destruction of moorlands that a ‘Ban the Burn’ group has been set up nationally. Dr Avery, who spoke at one of the meetings in Hebden Bridge, said there can be no compromise; protection of the upland environment cannot co-exist with driven grouse shooting. He has predicted that driven grouse shooting will come to an end within the next 20 years.  He believes the continuance of this sport is unsustainable, illogical and harmful to wildlife and the wider environment.

Many MPs, across all parties, agree with the experts and they are not afraid to say so publicly. The Blue Fox group (Tories against blood sports) have amassed the support of a whopping 50 Tory MPs who are opposed to fox hunting.