A huntmaster has blamed a mother with her autistic son after their pet dog was chased into a lake by his hounds. The hunt apologised to the boy, and to his mother, but in an interview played on Danny Pike’s BBC Radio Sussex, Nick Bamber said that the family should have had the dog on a lead.
“all [the park] entrances do state that members of the public who have dogs should walk them on a lead”
Two more inexperienced dogs apparently saw Aspergers’ syndrome sufferer Kian Wickenden and his pet Mya, and gave chase. The three year old Lakeland terrier fled into the lake and swam to an island to escape, taking over an hour to be coaxed back.
Or perhaps Mr Bamber should control his hounds.
34 Comments
Typical arrogant wealthy idiotic huntsman…shame on you – and your half-baked apology to a mother esp in view of her sick son and traumatised dog. But then nothing matters except the kill, does it, to so-and-sos like you?
Probably bad PR to say it out loud, but he’s actually right though.
Scum of the earth having money doesnt make you better then anyone else ,they should all be horse whipped .
Hang on, shouldn’t his hounds be on a lead then, or did I miss the sarcasm in the comments above?
I wonder what the hounds were hunting? I thought it was illegal nowadays
Like they kept their dogs on a lead….oh wait….
Nothing to do with having money, everything to do with lack of compassion, same as the idiot running the country today
Those hats look like the papier maché things I had to pee into when I was in hospital. Are they getting them from the NHS? I think we should be told.
I cannot think of any radio programme that could be worse than Danny Pyke and a huntsmaster. Mr Pyke always annoys me when I have caught his programme or as this morning heard his trailer for his programme.
We are I believe in the 21st Century, People are still starving, Lack of clean water or simple medication to prevent death, but good old GB still insists on it’s ‘Right’ to wipe out ‘Vermin’ by using an archaic form of alleged sport! Enough of this farce, how many dead foxes/badgers etc do we see on our roads? Do we need Hunts?? Rhymes with something!!
Excuse my ignorance but surely if the dog had been on a lead he would not have escaped with his life? Or do hunt hounds only attack things that run away?
Interesting how you (Political Scrapbook) refer to him as a ‘sufferer’ of aspergers syndrome. Its a pity that your political awareness doesn’t include a person centred model of disability
Anyone living in a country area should know to keep pets on leashes because the farm animals are not trained to be fluffy and nice.
Anyway, would you have been as keen to blame the farmer had the dog run amok with his sheep and said they should have been kept in pens away from rule-breaking pet owners? Because in a way, that it what you are arguing for.
Hunting dogs are not pets – they are working animals, and it is for very good reason that pets which are not used to large packs of hunting dogs need to be kept on a leash when in areas where “farm animals” could be encountered.
Incidentally, most huntsmen are just normal farmers and farm workers – so the quips about rich people in the comments are totally wrong.
I thought hunting with dogs was illegal? Second, ALL dogs should be on a lead including thise of the pompous idiots who break the law with no concern for anyone in their path.
At last check, hunting with dogs was still illegal. Lock them up!
And were their bloody hounds on a lead?
Oh no I forgot.
The law doesnt apply to these bas***ds does it!
Hunting with dogs isn’t illegal. Catching foxes with dogs is. The law supposedly banning foxhunting hasn’t actually done so.
In this particular case, I believe it comes down to signage. I’m not sure about fox-hunting, but any sporting activity involving a gun requires red flags and signs to be placed on all the footpaths entering the area, so that people are aware to keep their distance.
If such a sign was up, the hunt was covered. If somebody forgot to put a sign up explicitly warning about the hunt, then it’s the hunt’s fault.
Absolute scum. More evidence that people so pathetic that they feel the need to terrorise nature, in order to feel ‘big and tough’ WILL abuse children too given half a chance. It is a disgrace that these idiots are allowed to embarrass our nationality like this. It’s quite clear that the police are to blame here though. I wonder if they would have the same passive view of working class idiots at a dog fight? Or I wonder if they recognise it’s the same ‘small man syndrome’ that made them become policemen in the first place. I guess filth will always protect filth.
so IanVisits your argument is that the dog attacked these poor vulnerable sheep…er no hounds and should have been on a lead to protect them, or is it that these hounds were simply trying to enforce park regulations about leads and make a citizens arrest.
Of course dogs should be kept on leads in areas where they are likely to encounter livestock and the results of dogs worrying sheep etc are sickening but that is not what happened here. Just as responsible dog owners should keep their dogs under control to protect livestock and wildlife, packs of hounds should be kept under control to protect other legitimate park users and their animals. The dog should have been on a lead but the fact that it wasn’t allowed it to escape, if it had been leashed they would have caught it and then not only the dog would have been in danger but also the owner if they attempted to defend their pet.
@Edward
“In this particular case, I believe it comes down to signage.”
NO EDWARD, IT DOES NOT! Terrorising a small child like this is nothing to do with ‘signage’ as your weasel animal abuser excuse comment suggests. But then I suppose that’s the difference between inbred abusers like you, and the human race. I agree with you on one thing though – the vermin must be driven from our country, starting with Cameron.
@Edward
“In this particular case, I believe it comes down to signage.”
NO EDWARD, IT DOES NOT! Terrorising a small child like this is nothing to do with ‘signage’ as your weasel animal abuser excuse comment suggests. But then I suppose that’s the difference between inbred abusers like you, and the human race. I agree with you on one thing though – the vermin must be driven from our country, starting with Cameron.
All dog owners should walk their dogs on a lead if the situation/location demands it. So the boy SHOULD have complied.
However, why were 2 inexperienced dogs from the hunt allowed to give chase? In a public place? What was the hunt DOING in a public place? Why are the hunt dogs exempt from being controlled on a lead? Does the Master of the Hunt carry poop bags?
If a child is expected to control his dog in a public place then why not a grown man? The Master of the Hunt clearly lost control of his dogs, yet it is the fault of the pet dog?
Without being present, it is hard to know exactly what happened. Maybe the pet dog came too close to the pack. Maybe the inexperienced dogs wouldn’t have given chase if it had been on a lead. Maybe the pet dog was a “safe” distance away and the hunt dogs broke away from the pack to give chase, thus negating the use of a lead. We weren’t there so we don’t know the facts.
Whatever the true facts of the case, as far as I am concerned it is all about controlling your dog, whether it is a guide dog, a pet dog or a hunting dog. The pack dogs were, even if it was only momentarily, out of control and a pet dog ran for it’s life.
One last question…..what is the Master of the Hunt if he is not a member of the public?
@Cazza
The ‘facts’ are quite plain. There is actually an article at the top of the page explaining them. Let me simplify it just for you. A bunch of loud pompous low brows though it was funny to stick two fingers up to decency and engage in the illegal, and abhorrent blood sport known as ‘fox hunting’. Unfortunately, this time they attracted a bit of unwanted publicity and ended up exposing themselves for what they are. Filthy cowards, who would try and blame a disabled child rather than face the truth that what they do is not only wrong, but disgusts 99% of people.
No, James F, the facts are NOT plain.
As I stated before, we were not there.
It is NOT an argument about fox-hunting. Where in the article does it say that the hunt were, in fact, hunting? Oh, yes. That’s right. It DOESN’T!
It is about controlling your dog, and the pack dogs were out of control. FACT.
That is what you should be getting your knickers in a twist about, NOT the fact that blood sports are cruel and ghastly and diabolical.
Stick to the facts if you are going to try and patronise me.
Not sure which is more disgusting. These idiotic “huntsmen” or the people claiming the dog should be on a lead. Please, this is an autistic child – how low can people stoop.
@Cazza
Patronising you is easy Cazza, because you are clearly a bit thick. And yes, your use of capital letters clearly defeats any argument that these so called huntsmen might have caused a bit of a nusence of themselves here. All the brains of an animal abuser.
You all need a f***ing life you really do it could have been a lot worse the childs dog could have been on a lead and the pack dogs could have attacked the child the people in charge of the dogs should have had their dogs on leads all of them IT STATES IT AT EVERY ENTRANCE the rest of you are just talking b*ll**ks
Oh, Mary….is that the best you can do?
As I have already said, the dogs should have been on a lead. All of them. That way, this entire situation would not have occurred.
If there is a sign stating that all dogs must be on a lead, then those rules should be complied with. By everyone. For the hard of thinking like yourself, that includes the pack dogs.
It is quite hard to understand your mildly vitriolic attack on me, Mary as your grammar, frankly, is not very good and I am struggling to see your point. Are you accusing me of being an animal abuser or the people exercising their dogs?
If it is me you are accusing, I strongly advise you to rescind your comment.
If it is the huntsmen then I have no doubt that they will heard much worse!
Whilst you are consulting the dictionary to find out what some of the longer words I have used actually mean, you might like the check the spelling of the word “nuisance”.
It really rather negates your use of the phrase “a bit thick” don’t you think?
All that said, this is a debate about controlling your dog, or at least it should be, and both parties were in the wrong.
In all of this, it is the mother of the child I feel the most sympathy and empathy (you might need to look that one up as well, Mary) for. She is going to have to deal with the “fallout” from this for a very long time, and no amount of apologising from the Master of the Hunt is going to help her.
Why are you insulting all the people who don’t rant on about fox-hunting?
Because they stick to the point of the article which is that Mr Bamber should have controlled the dogs and not call him a scum-sucking parasite that isn’t fit to stick to the bottom of your shoe, you call them thick and animal abusers and filth.
Why do you do this?
Mr Bamber has admitted the blame and apologised, what more do you want to do? Throw him to the dogs? Ironic.
I do not agree with fox-hunting and any other type of blood sport or cruelty of any kind, before you jump on me too, but to abuse and insult people who don’t foam at the mouth over it is sad and demeaning to you.
I thought this was a forum to post a comment in, not attack people if they don’t agree with you.
To Hell with it…let’s string ‘em all up.
If this was Just some one walking their dogs and they meet a person with no LD this would never have been herd off. Its just for the fact it was a hunts man and a lad with an LD that makes it a big argument. Yes I agree with hunting their dogs do need exercising and should most likely been on a leads, i love how not many people thought they may have been drag hounds where no animal is killed at the end! Also the lad with the LD should have also had his dog on a lead, therefore both are in the wrong. No one would have ever heard of this story if it was to average joes walking their dogs and this happening
I can only assume that these pathetic six of one – half a dozen of the other comments such as the one above come from animal abusers and their disgusting apologists. I pity anyone who feels they have a right to terrorise just for fun. Fortunately like all cowards their day will come.
What is wrong with you people????
Are you all so dense that you cannot read a simple text without turning rabid?
Because some people on here are not calling for a lynch-mob they are animal abusers! If that wasn’t so offensive I’d be laughing.
Y’all need to get a grip on perspective and read/listen to what has been reported above. Not see a picture of a bunch of hounds and a couple of blokes in red coats and start screaming “fox hunters”.
Where is it reported that the pack were hunting? Is it so unbelievable to you that the pack might have been exercising? Nothing else? Would you rather they were kept in kennels and never let out? Or would you have them humanely destroyed by a vet? Just because people like you can’t see beyond the end of your noses?
Hunting foxes with dogs is illegal, and quite rightly so. It is inhumane and barbaric. Where in this article does it say the pack were actively hunting? If the Master of the Hunt was following the letter of the law (and nothing in this article says that he wasn’t) then at the worst all the pack were doing was drag hunting. Or are you all going to get up in arms about a sack on a rope?
Despite being insulted by certain posters on here, I am neither an animal abuser nor an apologist. I would be first to start jumping up and down and shouting a bit if it transpires that the pack were hunting fox. It’s wrong. End of story as far as I am concerned.
I agree that fox hunting is a very emotive issue, but that isn’t what the article is about. It is about 2 dogs chasing a third. If all the dogs were leashed this would never have happened.
Accepting that fact does not qualify me to enter the realm of animal abuser, apologist, coward and terrorist or any other ridiculous name you think is your right to throw at me.
I am not apologising for the actions of the pack dogs nor am I agreeing that the pet dog should have been free to run about. There were signs saying the dogs should be on a lead. Agreeing with that does not make me, or anyone else who doesn’t chuck insults about, pond life.
We are I believe in the 21st Century, People are still starving, Lack of clean water or simple medication to prevent death, but good old GB still insists on it’s ‘Right’ to wipe out ‘Vermin’ by using an archaic form of alleged sport! Enough of this farce, how many dead foxes/badgers etc do we see on our roads? Do we need Hunts?? Rhymes with something!!
Dogs should be kept back on leads in regions where they are likely to come across domestic animals and the results of dogs worrying sheep and others are appalling but that are not what happened here.