[Des C]

Your difficulty will be proving that hounds from a local hunt killed your birds - should they choose to deny it. However, if you can identify someone from the hunt and approach them with a thinly veiled threat of publicity, you may find a different response. Many hunters are very nervous about this kind of thing as they fear that publicity will mark the end for them in NI too. If the hounds came over the border, the direct approach is probably your only redress.
Such are the vagaries of Irish life!!!!

I hope things are back to normal soon!
Des C

[Bodger]

If you read the initial post, the owners of the dogs have actually admitted that it was their dogs which are responsible. There would appear to be no need for threats veiled or otherwise.

[pookey]

When you say hunting dogs what do you mean ? Lurchers,terriers or hounds ? Was it an organised hunt or some people out for a walk with a particular type of dog ?

You must remember that most poultry attacks are comitted by either your own dogs or those of nearby neighbours, which can be of any breed.

I've been a hunter all my life and have worked and owned 'hunting dogs' all my life as well. My dogs have been workmen as well as pets and as such have all been well socialised to humans. To jump to the conclusion that they were likely to jump from killing chickens to young chidren is ill founded and not logical.

During a career as a PC in a rural area I dealt with many incidents of people being bitten by dogs and livestock attacks I can put my hand on heart and say that not one of the dogs involved in the incidents could even remotely have been decribed as hunting dogs.

The owners of the dogs cannot bring the chickens back or compensate for the shock to the owner of her having seen her chickens slaughtered but they have been and spoken to the owner and admitted their liability. What else would people like them to do ?
Some of the members on the forum might not like hunters or hunting but thats not what this thread is about.
I'd be seeking financial compensation and genuine assurances that its not going to happen again.

The coup is next to my kids play area and have knocked down a fence IN the play area.  An hour earlier my 11 month old baby was crawling round his play area, can you honestly say you KNOW that the dogs would not mistake my baby for a badger, or some other animal.  I should have the right to take my kids out to play without the fear of them being hurt or witnessing their pets being savaged by dogs.  Luckily my son understands that our own dog is a good dog, and it hasnt made him scared of it.  I also have a deaf cat who would be prime target.  The dogs have chased my neighbours frijons but when he reported it to the police they just said he could shoot the dogs if he liked.  My husband has been on the phone to the police this morning and they are coming back on Wednesday to take a statement.  He is photographing the evidence now and we are going to seek legal advice.  I have already reported these dogs before when 30 of them were running round my houseand I had to grab the kids and dash in the house - it's not on.  The dogs are lanky with long legs and are brown and sand and blacky grey patches.

[Bodger]

First of all I wouldn't trust an 11 month old child with any dog, and thats any dog including the family pet.

If this has happened before then the hunt do need to be reported.

[SMIFFY]

Pookey you are correct in what your saying, when a dog is in it's "Red Zone", unfortunately prey is prey.Whether it's a chook, cat, another dog, or god forbid a child. What made it worse is, that although there were only about 4 dogs on your property, they were still a pack, and each one will "feed" off of the others excitement. The proof of this was the way in which they attacked your chooks and kept coming back after you had tried to scare them off.
I'm not getting at Hunts or people that agree with them, I'm looking at this situation as a person with a lot of dog experience, I have seen at first hand what dogs in the "Red Zone" can do, and believe me............. enough said.
Also, I'm not trying to scare anybody, but people need to understand how serious a commitment keeping a dog is(aswell as any other animal), let alone a pack of them.
Again GOOD LUCK.

[Des C]

Bodger,
My suggestion of the threat of publicity was intended as a means of seeking redress / compensation. I have been and remain a hunt supporter and will continue to speak out for choice. However, due to the emotional baggage associated with hunts, these matters are rarely settled in an amicable way. The local hunt should replace the birds killed and apologise for the inconvenience.

[Bodger]

Des.
Pookey said this in her first post.

"One neighbour tracked down the hunters and they came up to the house and offered to replace or pay for the chickens. I appreciate their admitting it was them but I am horrified at the experience, "

[ssatt44]

Pookey, when they came to your house did they give you the name of their Hunt? If they are a "recognized" Hunt, not just some local yahoos with a scratch pack, the Irish Masters of the Hunt association could help rein them in.

sharon in az

[Foxy]

Oh Pookey,

I am so sorry for what you experienced - don't give up keeping chickens though.    
I am sure the huntsmaster is a reasonable man - I wonder if they would help towards making your property dog proof? Perhaps towards electric fencing etc (I am sure they could give some sound advice in the very least)Only a thought personally I believe in trying to prevent these things happening and from your earlier post they did admit liability.
Best of luck and I hope you can all sort things out

[babe]

I call the police every time I see the hunt out here. They are the most obnoxious people, talking extremely loudly, looking down their noses to the rest of us plebs as if we were sh*t on their shoes. If they want to ride there are plenty of opportunities for them to do so without putting on ridiculous 'look at me' clothes. They pretend to be drag-hunting but if a fox 'happens' to come along, then what can they do??
I am not an active anti-hunter but something about them makes my blood run hot, I have had a near-miss on the road when they came round a blind bend on the wrong side of the road. I called the police and all they could say was 'were they galloping or cantering?' apparently galloping is illegal.
Sorry to go on but they make me really angry. Shooting foxes is much more effective, I am not against that, just the a**se holes who hunt!

hi, can i apologise now in case i ramble on.

firstly can i please ask that all hunts are not judged by this one, which has gone terribly wrong.

daddy  my dad bought me my first pony for my 3rd birthday, i am now 36. and i went on my first hunt at 8.


the boxing day hunt is the highlight of my year and i will not apologise for that.

we dont were ridiculous clothes, we wear what is traditional, for a long standing british sport. and we wear them proudly.
we are not obnoxious, but we do follow a strict code of behaviour, hunt etiquette is very important and extremely respectful.

you will never see a member of a hunt retaliate to any anti-hunt protesters, if this makes us seem aloof at the time , then so be it.
as it currently stands, only 36% of the population supports the ban. so we are still in the majority.

yes it is illegal to gallop on any highway or byway, this is for all riders, not just hunts. no experienced rider would gallop anywhere inappropriate or dangerous anyway. riding any horse can be a danger

hunts take place on private property as guests of thje land owner. the person you would need to see about this, is the Master of the hunt and im sure you will find him very helpful. he will be able to tell you how near you are to the actual hunt. and im certain he will accept full responsibility on behalf of the hunt, it is awful that this has happened to you

bearing in mind that in drag hunting the route will be pre determined. and for the dog to have gone away from the trail, may indicate that foxes have been near to your chickens. and something you may wish to look into.
no animal can be trusted 100%, no matter how safe you feel with them, but that is still no reason for this to have happened.

you can report this to Masters of Foxhounds Association on 01285 831470, they will also be able to tell you which hunt was near you. no hunt will ignore that fact that you and your child could have been hurt.

i personally feel that the ban on fox hunting will be lifted in the future as it is now proven that the fox suffers less than being shot.

i belive in letting everyone have their own opinion and i dont judge anyone. this is just my opinion and i appreciate that others may disagree and i hope ive not offended anyone with my views

[Selkie]

i know everyone's entitled to their opinions but can we keep this on subject


please...

i guess if you want to talk pro/anti hunt then take it to the off topic part of the forums, but i don't think talking about this will help

[babe]

i know everyone's entitled to their opinions but can we not change this into a pro/anti hunt debate?

please...

i wasnt debating anything, at no point did i say this wasnt an awful thing to have happened, it is awful.

brucesgirl called me and my family and friends ar*eholes for hunting. surely im allowed to respond to that.

it was an insult that i found offensive as im a really nice person.

[Selkie]

i know everyone's entitled to their opinions but can we not change this into a pro/anti hunt debate?

please...

i wasnt debating anything, at no point did i say this wasnt an awful thing to have happened, it is awful.

brucesgirl called me and my family and friends ar*eholes for hunting. surely im allowed to respond to that.

it was an insult that i found offensive as im a really nice person.

i don't think brucesgirl is actually talking about your family and friends - is ipswich near essex (sorry, i'm not overly familiar with uk geography)

[babe]

her whole post was insulting

i just responded with the facts and hopefully some advice on where to get help, for the lady who this happened to.

i lost a lamb to a fox last year, that i bottle reared from 20 mins old. she died on my lap with the top of her scalp ripped off - so any way to kill a fox is good by me.

and i wont let them near my chooks, i use the foxwatch aunt sally told me about.

[babe]

sorry ipswich is in suffolk, next county to essex, so you werent  far off.