Riders and walkers from 250 hunts throughout England are to take part in a mass hunt on February 19 — the day their traditional sport is banned.
The intention of organisers, the Countryside Alliance, is to hunt within the law and show the absurdity of the legislation forced through last month.
Landowners have already given permission for legal hunting to take place on their property. The new-found confidence of the pro-hunting lobby comes after Trevor Adams, 46, walked free from Jedburgh Sheriff Court cleared of breaking Scotland’s hunting ban in the first real test of the new law. He was found not guilty of allowing hounds to run out of control in pursuit of a fox on farmland on October 16, 2002, three months after the ban came into force.
He was the first member of an organised hunt to face charges under the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 and could have been imprisoned for up to six months or fined up to £5,000 if found guilty.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1398467,00.html