Rhys Giles says loopholes are used to get around a ban on fox-hunting

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A HUNT saboteur’s talk on stopping fox-hunting has been hit with counter sabotage after posters advertising the event were ripped down and defaced.

Some shopkeepers in the neighbourhood have now put the posters up inside their stores to ensure adverts for the talk at Primrose Hill Community Library are not removed – with one store owner telling the New Journal: “When we heard someone had gone round taking all the posters down, we wanted to help. What type of psychopath supports killing foxes for fun? It seems there is a person with a blood-lust for innocent creatures living round here.”

It was organised by hunt saboteur Rhys Giles, who lives in Primrose Hill. He is a member of the North London Hunt Sabs, the largest group of its kind in the UK.

Despite fox-hunting being outlawed 20 years ago, every “season” – which begins in October – hunts across the country head out to inflict extreme violence on wildlife.  Mr Giles hopes the talk will raise awareness of the current laws, how they are broken and loopholes used.

He said: “Hunt sabotaging is unique as a form of activism. You are actively stopping the thing you disapprove of happening. There is no pressure on politicians, hoping they will do the right thing and work on what they should do. You do not like the immense cruelty of fox-hunting, so you go and stop it.”

It is the second time a  phantom pro-hunt vandal has struck.

A fox in the Camden New Journal’s garden in Camden Town

Last year Mr Giles had seen posters defaced, ripped down and removed for a similar talk.

He said: “I hoped the person responsible had either moved or changed their mind. There is a lot of propaganda bandied about. We are often accused of class war and criminality. The fact is we have a good relationship with the police and our group has never had anyone arrested or charged.”

And he added that hunts were actively – and openly – breaking the 2004 law that banned fox-hunting.

Many attempt to use a loophole where they claim to be running a “trail” hunt, where a scent is laid for hounds to follow.

Mr Giles said: “They are used as excuses. We have evidence trails are not laid, and even when they are, hounds are encouraged to hunt wildlife instead of following the trail. We predict the route the hunt will take. We call the hounds using the same commands as hunters to take them away from a fox. Some [of us] have learned how to blow horns to confuse the hunt.”

Other ploys include using “gizmos” that play the sound of hounds, and citronella sprays to mask the scent of any fox.

Mr Giles said: “I am a 6ft 7 former rugby player so I don’t get intimidated, but we have many people who are not big in stature and not young in age. They show the courage of their convictions against some very real threats.

“Lots of us are just animal lovers who cannot bear the horrifying idea of the terrible way foxes are killed – and it is the same as any other anti-social behaviour or criminality, the same as someone stealing a phone in the street.”

Rhys Giles is discussing the work of the North London Hunt Sabs at Primrose Hill Community Library, Sharples Hall Street, NW3 8YN, on Sunday November 10, 5-6.30pm.