British police are investigating reports of hunting groups taking down drones used by hunt saboteurs to monitor and provide evidence of the hunts’ activities.
A spokesperson from the Hunt Saboteurs Association said there has been an escalation of violence against saboteur drones and their operators in many areas of the UK. “We’ve seen everything from stones being lobbed, to drones being shot out of the sky, to one hunt even launching its own attack drone.”
Saboteurs have been using drones for a few years and the footage captured has been used to report offences. It is illegal to hunt foxes with dogs in the UK but hunts have been found to do so under the guise of trail hunting, where the dogs follow a scent trail laid by humans. Drones can often reach places that the saboteurs cannot on foot.
Hunts are now attempting to stop the saboteurs from recording their activities. Evidence provided by Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs and published by The Independent newspaper includes drone footage of the Beaufort Hunt. The hunt allegedly targeted the saboteurs’ drone with one of their own equipped with a wire and weight to entangle and disable the other drone, causing both drones to crash. Footage from this incident and others has been presented to police as evidence for both illegal drone use and illegal hunting. The drone incidents have also been reported to the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
For more information
Image: Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs’ drone captured video of a hunters’ drone with vertical weighted wire attached.
