ANIMAL rights activists accused of "intimidating" members of a hunt in a weekend protest have hit back, claiming they were only trying to protect the lives of innocent animals.
Paul Timpson, spokesman for the North West Hunt Saboteurs' Association, said he was annoyed by allegations made by some hunt members after they tried to disrupt a meet organised by the High Peak Harriers at Buxton on Saturday.
Jackie Carr, 45, a lon
g standing member of the Harriers - a horseback pack which hunts hares - claimed saboteurs interfered with jumps, spat at a hunt follower and sprayed a girl on a pony with an unknown substance.
She claimed the behaviour of the saboteurs was "getting worse".
Mr Simpson said the allegations were unfair, claiming police officers monitoring the protest would have made arrests if their behaviour had been dangerous or unlawful.
"We are made up of people from the North of England, including Sheffield, and our aim is to use non-violent direct action at hunts across the country," he said. "We go to any hunt where any animal is likely to be killed, trying to prevent that, and we use tactics such as using sprays to mask the smell of the hunted animals to confuse the hunting dogs.
"Any suggestion that we would tamper with jumps and potentially put a horse at risk is ludicrous, because we campaign for the welfare of animals.
"It is unfair to say we deliberately intimidated members of Saturday's hunt but we will defend ourselves if we feel we are being threatened.
"We will continue to use this form of action until hunting is banned."
Dawn Preston, a member of the Manchester Hunt Saboteurs' Association, added: "Hunt saboteurs are there to save the lives of animals, not to endanger them. It would make no sense to risk injury to horses by interfering with jumps.
A 63-year-old man was arrested and cautioned for a public order offence after he allegedly verbally abused a hunt saboteur in the presence of a police officer at King Sterndale.
