The first quotation is taken directly from the Hunt Saboteurs Association website. The headline reads Hunt Saboteurs Association proud to support local groups stop the cull and it then goes on to say the following.
Hunt saboteurs association Press Release September 15th 2013
“The Hunt Saboteurs Association is proud to announce it has donated a significant amount of money for hunt saboteurs in the badger cull zones to buy night vision equipment. The equipment will be used to locate the badger killers in the dark and enable saboteurs to quickly intervene between them and the badgers”
The rest of the article is the HSA telling everyone how wonderful they are so I have left that out of the quote, it would bore a donkey rigid.
The second quotation is taken from the Herts Hunt Sabs Facbook page and makes for some very interesting reading to be sure. I have inserted paragraphs to make it digestible. Apart from that the entire quote is verbatim so in advance, please excuse the mangling of the Queens English that follows but struggle through it. It is worth it.
"With immediate effect , Herts Hunt Sabs have found ourselves in the unprecedented position of being forced to disassociate ourselves from the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA). We believe it is in the PUBLICS interest to know the reason behind our decision. We are a transparent group and have no need for secrecy. We are a reformed group and in a short spate of time have proved ourselves to be very active with many people wanting to take part in active sabbing from our area.
In July 2013 we attended the AGM where a new committee was formed and we were given a copy of the accounts, the balance at the end of Dec 2012 being a very healthy £57,414.58, interestingly enough the amount donated to the sab groups was a mere £9696 for that year.
Mid July 2013 assets a very healthy £79,558 BEFORE the influx of donations/memberships stemming from the cull and the donations to groups amounted to £14,204. Interestingly enough, no break down further of WHICH groups were helped by the HSA. You can see a significant amt of money goes NOWHERE near the sab groups and just sits gaining interest.
We were told that the HSA actively wished to support grant applications if sab groups were struggling and the cap was £2500 per group. We believe that there are approx 24 sab groups in the UK and even if every single sab group asked for the maximum amt you can see there is a nice surplus still sitting there. The majority of sab groups lack a working sab vehicle and this has a MAJOR impact on sabbing. It is vital that every sab group has a sab vehicle so that they can get numbers out into the fields and have a direct impact and also for personal safety. We applied to the HSA for funding for a vehicle of £2000 (enough to buy one and insure it) and gave assurances of our actions for the season and offered to sign a contract so that the HSA knew that at any point our group disbanded or we werent being active enough, the vehicle would be given back to them.
We were DECLINED this support and assistance to at least " December some time when it would be reviewed" and so were at least one other well estabilished neighbouring sab group who have NO personal vehicles to use at this time so are in an even more precarious position. Now we believe within the HHS that the majority of the public consider that when donating to the HSA that their donations are going directly to the sab groups to help them get out in the field and take direct action to save a life and that is why at least one of us is a LIFETIME member of the HSA and has been for many years.
The decline of at least two vehicle fund requests has led us to see the HSA in a different light. We believe for EVERY WEEK sab groups do not have a vehicle , our hunted wildlife will have a greater chance of being murdered AND WE FIND THIS UNACCEPTABLE. We cannot be part of an organisation that puts a mere £2, 000 in the scheme of things, before A LIFE and that is the bottom line. We therefore feel that we cannot support the HSA in anyway. We urge anyone that is considering making any donations to donate directly to their local sab group, you can at least be safe in the knowledge that it will help them directly. We have also commented constructively on the HSAs web page and now also find that there is another page asking everyone to donate £2 to the HSA to help the badgers.
We have been blocked now from commenting any further on that page and find that action in itself speaks volumes. We will now continue our groups work and assist and support our fellow sab groups as much as possible, continuing to increase our bond with them but have no time for the committee of the HSA and the organisations misguided decision making and politics within. We are not here to play games and be part of an organisation that has blood on their hands as far as we are concerned, we are here to do a job and save lives. Thank you and well done if you have reached the end of this without falling asleep !!!"
As I said a riveting read, the money being donated to the HSA is not going to the boots on the ground and when the HSA is questioned by the members on its website they get banned. Is that the way for an organisation to behave? I think not, were I a hunt saboteur I would be looking at the HSA with suspicion.
If we extract the figures then they look like this.
Money held by the HSA in December £57,414.58
Monet held by the HSA in July £79,558.00
Increase in holdings over the 6.5 months £25,143.50
That is a donation rate of £3868.17 per month.
The HSA who if you remember said that had it has “donated a significant amount of money for hunt saboteurs in the badger cull zones to buy night vision equipment” Though they will not even say what groups actually received these significant sums, and that is when questioned by their own members.
Can you catch the aroma of rattus rattus as it wafts around the saboteurs camp. I know I can.
I would love to see there list of excpences
ReplyDeleteSo would the police I would imagine.
ReplyDelete