President: Sir George Greenwood. Hon. Treasurer: Ernest Bell.
Secretary: Henry B. Amos
For some time it has been felt by many humanitarians that a special society was needed in order to give cohesion and greatest strength to the scattered forces throughout the country which are opposed to blood-sports. It has now been made possible to go forward, and the above society has been formed.
The principle underlying the object of the League is that it is iniquitous to inflict suffering, either directly or indirectly, upon any sentient animal for the purposes of sport. Thus, Rabbit and Hare Coursing, Fox, Otter, and Stag-Hunting, and Beagling, are all included.
A strong representative Advisory Committee is in process of formation, and already the following have joined : Sir Herbert Barks; Alderman M. Conway, J.P. (ex-President, National Union of Teachers); Canon Donaldson of Westminster; Rev. Dr. R. F. Horton, Mr. Donald Macleod (member, British Olympic Council); Mr. E. Rosslyn Mitchell, M.P.; Mr. Henry W. Nevinson; Mr. Percy E. Scholes; Miss Sybil Thorndike; Rev. Dr. Walter Walsh.
A number of leaflets, of which a list will be found on p. 673, have been printed, and others will be added as occasion offers.
Particular attention is being directed, at the outset, to rabbit coursing and the hunting of the carted stag, which are covered by the Protection of Animals Bill now before Parliament. The specific objects of this Bill are to protect those animals which, though nominally wild, are, in fact, kept in captivity or confinement and released for the purpose of being hunted or coursed. The Bill does not apply to any form of sport which is concerned with wild animals in their natural condition of freedom.
A Bill along these lines was introduced into the last Parliament by Mr. Isaac Foot, M.P. for Bodmin. It got through both the first and second readings and was sent to Committee when Parliament was dissolved. Owing to Mr. Foot not being returned to the present Parliament, a new sponsor had to be found. Mr. H. G. Williams, Unionist M.P. for Reading, has undertaken this duty, and the Bill is backed by Dr. Drummond Shiels, Lieut.-Commander Kenworthy, Sir Philip Richardson, Mr. Robert Smillie, and Mr. R. J. G. Boothby, and has passed the second reading in the present session
Meantime a vigorous campaign against all other blood-sports will be undertaken. The many callous cases of cruelty to foxes during the past season have brought this form of hunting particularly to the front. One such case only need be noted: that of the fox driven to take refuge in a dwelling-house at Petersfield, Hants, in February. Our readers will recall the circumstances, printed in papers all over the country, and satirised in Punch in a scathing article, since reprinted, how, the fox, dead-beat after a fifteen-mile run, sought sanctuary by jumping through the window of the house and hiding in the chimney-flue.
Every effort to dislodge the quarry, even to the extent of smoking him out, was tried, but without avail. Finally, workmen were called in, bricks were removed from the chimney, and the fox grabbed and thrown to the dogs.
This is only a specimen of what hunting men consider legitimate “sport”. The same spirit is manifested in the other blood-sports, as reports in the Press and our leaflets show.
In order to prosecute the work of the League effectively, the co-operation of all our friends is needed. Not only in writing letters to the Press, by the distribution of leaflets, by forming groups interested and by keeping us fully informed of cruel sporting incidents in their district, so that the same may be followed up, but also—and this particularly—financially. Without the sinews of war no movement can succeed, but with it a definite onslaught can be made forth with on what is one of the most deeply entrenched citadels of cruelty, in our land—viz., the blood-sports.
A special “Spread-the-Light” fund has been opened, and gifts—no matter how small—will be warmly welcomed by the Treasurer, Mr. Ernest Bell, at York House, Portugal Street, London, W.C. 2.