On June 17, Great Britain\’s Countryside Alliance issued a press release describing an attack on a hunt in Bidford, Warwickshire by up to 80 masked animal rights activists.

According to the press release, the activists brandished hammers, lengths of chemical pipe, and some sort of chemical spray. One individual was taken to the hospital after being sprayed in the face with some sort of chemical. According to the Countryside Alliance,

The 19 year-old man had a chemical substances sprayed in his face and two other members of the hunt, a man and a woman, were attacked, thrown to the ground and kicked. Some of the hounds were also attacked.

Police arrested four of the activists and later charged two of them. The release quoted Simon Hart, Director of the Countryside Alliance Campaign for Hunting, saying,

We will be making urgent representations to the Home Office on Monday to assess how this kind of violence can occur in Britain\’s countryside, and finding out what proposals the Home Secretary has to address it. This mindless attack comes at a time when people on both sides of the hunting debate have been invited by the Government to take part in a consultation process on the future of the activity. This incident illustrates that the animal rights movement has nothing to contribute to this process other than violence and intimidation. This is yet more proof that the animal rights movement is driven by spite, hatred and vindictiveness, rather than a desire to improve animal welfare. It comes as no surprise that anti hunt MPs are deafeningly silent at moments like this.

Source:

Hunt Attacked By 80 Masked Saboteurs Wielding Hammers. The Countryside Alliance, June 17, 2002.