The otter hunters involved had been using cats in a specially constructed wooden tunnel to train their young terriers to bolt otters. See inside.. Bell was sentenced to one month's imprisonment with hard labour and John Church, the Hunt's Whip, received half that sentence. He denounced otter hunting as the lowest-down pastime that has survived into the twentieth century. 68. 70. J. C. Bristow-Noble, Madame, 22nd July 1905, 171, cited in Cheesman and Cheesman, Diaries of the Crowhurst Otter Hounds, p. 43 [Actually it was Mrs Kellogg-Jenkins, Battle, who had been born in San Francisco, 1911 census]. Mackenzie, John M., The Empire of Nature (Manchester, 1988), p. 33 Newcastle Daily Journal, 29th May 1914, cited at http://www.henrysalt.co.uk/friends/colonel-coulson. 15. 60. Their aim, to enforce the principle that it is iniquitous to inflict avoidable suffering on any sentient being, was tied to both the criminal law and prison system, and the prevention of cruelty to animals. We appeal to the chivalry of English men and women to make these so-called sports impossible.Footnote After retiring from the army he devoted much of his time to lecturing in schools across the country about the fair treatment of animals. Perhaps surprisingly, despite four decades of campaigns against the sport, the article does not describe otter hunting as something controversial. Feature Flags: { In the Daily Sketch, Mr Harding Matthews, an individual with no declared interest, wrote: Are we to believe that Workington breeds people so utterly spineless as to allow, in public and in broad daylight, the brutal murder of an inoffensive, wild creature? He stressed that he was not a sportsman and had never shot a bird nor hooked a fish in my life but became involuntarily the witness of an otter hunt while sketching beside a pool. Bell argued that it offered an insightful glimpse into the mind of the sporting man,Footnote As the otter hunters arrived at the meet, the first thing they saw was a line of demonstrators with banners bearing the words Abolish the Shameful Sport of Otter-hunting and Stand up for the Helpless. Cameron, L. C. R., Rod, Pole and Perch: Angling and Otter-hunting Sketches (London, 1928), p. 52 After mobilising factual evidence, graphic descriptions and controversial comparisons, Bates concludes his essay bemoaning the seeming insanity of the legal position of hunted animals. 4 Google Scholar. Some inhuman wretch: Animal Maiming and the Ambivalent Relationship between Rural Workers and Animals, Rural History, 25 (2014), 13360CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The exposure was made all the more effective by the contradictory responses from the otter hunters involved. Scientists and tribal leaders say reintroducing otters would restore balance to degraded kelp forests, boost fish species, protect shorelines, generate tourist dollars 4. 39 31. The Masters of Otterhounds Association was formed on 9th February 1910. Twenty-five years later, Smith and his colleagues conducted two years of monitoring surveys at 1,200 sites across the state to assess how well the population was doing. 20 18, The first published call for the protection of otters came from Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston (18581927) who has been described as one of the main instigators of the scramble for Africa on the ground and considered himself a naturalist above all else.Footnote The RSPCA and its Objects, The Animal World, July 1906, 154. Instead, it focussed on one man, Mr Sidney Varndell. . 53, To show that this practice was not a thing of the past, Collinson then lifted more recent examples from the May 1906 Animals Friend: An otter, after being worried for four hours, gave birth to two cubs, and was afterwards hunted for two hours more before she was killed. The 1911 pamphlet attempted to shed light on the overall death roll of otter hunting. In 1931 Ernest Bell, co-founder of the League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports, resigned in protest at Henry Amos's continual criticism of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Reflecting on the period, W. H. Rogers of the Cheriton Otter Hounds wrote: Some doubts were expressed as to the propriety of hunting while so many poor fellows were being killed and wounded in the trenches, but the view prevailed that if the Hunt was once dropped it would be very difficult to restart it, and that those who were away would wish us to keep things going against their return.Footnote Leeds Women Protest at an Otter Hunt, Cruel Sports, August 1935, 59. Captain T. W. Sheppard, Decadence of Otter Hunting, The Field, 20th October 1906, 658. By 2016, over 4,000 river otters had been translocated to 23 states. Darts and arrows were present at the start of hunting. Raymond, Graham He saw that miserable little animal was pursued by men with large poles with spikes in their heads, men who would put on a tall hat and go to Church on Sundays, while women disgracing their sex stood by and lent their countenance and encouragement to the brutal proceedings. One of the main reasons Bates spoke out against otter hunting was that he felt that a small minority had reduced his chances of seeing the otter. This meant the League had far fewer opportunities to criticise otter hunting and by 1918 it recognised that it was the extravagance of spending vast sums of money on hunting and shooting, rather than the cruelty of blood sports, which aroused public resentment.Footnote 11. At dawn she withdrew to the river, where she was again hunted, but after several hours pursuit managed to escape. The principles of this League echoed those of its predecessor, that it was iniquitous to inflict suffering, either directly or indirectly, upon sentient animals for the purpose of sport.Footnote Otter hunting involves the harrying of females heavy with young, the destruction of mothers in milk, the lingering starvation of a number of suckling cubs, and a heavy death roll and the the aggregate of animal suffering caused is necessarily great.Footnote During the period 1969-72, 89 sea otters were translo-cated to British Columbia; 59 otters were released in Washington in 1969-70. Throughout the essay he applies the term to a number of situations to discredit the idea that animals are killed for public safety, natural history, protection of farmers or sporting exercise.Footnote Each image is accompanied with a caption and a paragraph explaining the scene. 7. 71. A true man would kill fierce animals with as little pain as possible, while those he destroys for food, or raiment, he will destroy mercifully. Tichelar, Michael, A blow to the men in Pink: The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Opposition to Hunting in the Twentieth Century, Rural History, 22 (2011), 89113 74. We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Hunting is a good excuse for a hard day's exercise. 1847Google Scholar; "useRatesEcommerce": false . The latter formed a pack of Otter Hounds in Llandinam, Wales, bearing his name in 1906. (Cheers.) He reported that around 450 otters were killed every year which meant that in my short life of thirty years. 1. He proposed that the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals should take its courage in both hands and accept his amendment: That it be an instruction from this General Meeting of Subscribers of the RSPCA to the Committee, forthwith to secure its presentation to Parliament, the object of which shall be to make otter hunting illegal..Footnote This is likely to be a ban by local landowners. The sea otter population has rebounded to nearly three thousand individuals Added to this, the physical characteristics of the otter meant that the final worry, much like the preceding pursuit, could be more prolonged and more of a spectacle than in hunts of other animals. The League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports based itself on the radical elements of the Humanitarian League. Tichelar, Michael, Putting Animals into Politics: The Labour Party and Hunting in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Rural History, 17 (2006), 21334, 219CrossRefGoogle Scholar; see also John Mackenzie points out that Landseer did not decry human participation in the raw cruelty of the natural world. The first issue in 1939, for instance, sold 1,350,000 copies. Which of the following observations would provide the strongest They were joined by English and American hunters in the latter part of the century, and uncontrolled hunting continued until 1799. 65. On rare occasions women were singled out for criticism during this period: Why the educated, rich, or the uneducated for the matter of that, have nothing better of more edifying to do with their time is beyond one's comprehension. 52. The Humanitarian League was dissolved in 1919, and the main organisation to campaign against otter hunting became the League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports, founded in 1924. . The Guardian reported that the grisly content of the painting was the reason why it was taken off permanent display by its owners the Laing Gallery in Newcastle.Footnote Colonel W. Lisle B. Coulson, The Otter Worry, in Henry Salt, ed., British Blood Sports: Let us go out and kill something (1901), pp. 76, There is a real sense that women should have had the emotional authority to know better.Footnote 83. WebSea otters were hunted to near extinction during the maritime fur trade of the 1700s and 1800s. Watkins, Charles, Matless, David and Merchant, Paul, Science, Sport and the Otter, 19451978, in Hoyle, R. W., ed., Our Hunting Fathers: Field Sports in England after 1850 (Lancaster, 2007), pp. Osman, Colin, Man, Felix Hans (18931985), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 Otter hunting is a practice that dates back to the 1700s. . 84. 41 Spurious Sports Sport with an Otter, The Humanitarian, October 1906, 75. Glorying over being blooded at an Otter Hunt, Cruel Sports, 1928 p. 85. The League established a special department to deal with Sports in 1895. He presented the case for his unauthorised but friendly amendment at the Egyptian Hall, Mansion House. A fortnight after this event, on 13th May 1931, the second reported demonstration against otter hunting generated a rather more hostile response. In his opinion everyone had a right to enjoy this animal in its natural surroundings, not just otter hunters. The passage not only stresses the moral inconsistency of the public, it also underlines the hypocrisy of sportsmen. These public demonstrations shed light on the respectability of the animal welfare movement. They were then handed leaflets. In August 1938 the National Society for the Abolition of Cruel Sports gained permission to reprint the chapter in leaflet form. hasContentIssue false, Copyright Cambridge University Press 2016. F. Pamphlet Series. 42. The chairman eventually agreed to put the resolution to the meeting and it was carried with acclamation. The League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sport, Annual Report (London, 1926). One of the first men of influence to join the Humanitarian League was Colonel William Lisle Blenkinsopp Coulson (18411911). 38 Bell-Irving, David Jardine, Tally-Ho: Fifty Years of Sporting Reminiscences (Dumfries, 1920), p. 120 20. Hale, Matthew Six weeks later, on 9th September, the magazine's editor revealed that many readers had taken umbrage with the article, and invited further correspondence on the subject. President Stephen Coleridge, his successor Lady Cory and several other members did the same. Bates wrote this chapter on the basis that he liked otters but, despite living within a mile of a river valley, had never seen one in the wild. . For Bates, such suffering could not be enjoyable for the sufferer and should not be enjoyable for onlookers. UKWOT has After introducing her pack, the Crowhurst Otter Hounds, the article listed the women who actively enjoyed the sport: Of the invariably large and influential following we may mention Mrs Mantell, Mrs Killogg-Jenkins, and Miss Woodruffe, Mrs Trimmer and Miss and Mrs J. Awbrey.Footnote Google Scholar. . Williamson, Henry, Tarka the Otter: His Joyful Water-life and Death in the Country of the Two Rivers (London, 1927)Google Scholar; The letter proposed that drag hunting provides all the thrill of the chase without a living victim, and we earnestly request you to consider its adoption in preference to hunting live creatures.Footnote [23] 42. The driving force was Henry Amos, who had worked as a government official and been secretary of the Vegetarian Society from 1913. Bates begins by considering the main excuse for killing otters, the supposed need to reduce predation on fish. Kean, Hilda, The Smooth Cool Men of Science: The Feminist and Socialist Response to Vivisection, History Workshop Journal (1995), 40:1, 1638 During the summer months its pages were sprinkled with photographs of women and girls being blooded at otter hunts. 15, Although this document only had a small readership it proved to be the earliest written condemnation of the sport from an organisation. 25. The hypocrisy of clergy preaching high moral standards and Christian virtues yet killing for fun was regularly exploited by members of the Humanitarian League. [22] In 1957 the treaty was finally re-drafted to account for the population changes in the various locations of sea otters. The seasonality, setting and pedestrianism of otter hunting appealed to Edwardian sporting and leisure sensibilities. 76. 3. Observing sea otters and kelp beds on Amchitka both onshore and during scuba dives led Estes to question the links between them. In 1929, there was a picture of a middle-aged woman and a teenage girl being blooded by the Joint Masters of the Wye Valley Otter Hounds in front of a crowd of smiling spectators. The Hawkstone Otter Hounds disbanded in 1914, putting down most of their hounds. Covering two pages (812), it was retitled Sport and the Otter.. The League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports publicised its views in much the same way as the Humanitarian League and from January 1927 they started producing a monthly journal Cruel Sports.Footnote Otter hunting was a minor field sport in Britain but in the early years of the twentieth century a lively campaign to ban it was orchestrated by several individuals and anti-hunting societies. A key criticism was of the voyeurism of watching the otter die. Large hunting efforts were under way with the help of a massive ship in the water. Otter hunting presents to him a picturesque scene, with the scarlet-coated, white-breeched men armed with spears, with shaggy hounds, and the landscape set with great marsh marigolds. Recognising that such causes may be dismissed as sickly sentimentality, the League made a point of stressing that their underlying principles were not merely a product of the heart. WebIn 1741, Russians began hunting sea otters. 17 shot but they felt that many otters were preserved for hunting, a shameful blot on our civilisation. By planting a seed of doubt into the minds of readers over the accuracy of hunting reports, it also implied that otter hunters could not be trusted. It was the only organisation that called for the legal protection of otters at the beginning of the twentieth century.Footnote Allen, Daniel, The Hunted Otter in Britain, 18301939, in Middleton, K. and Pooley, S., eds, Wild Things: Nature and the Social Imagination (Cambridge, 2013)Google Scholar; A high proportion of the League were women. .but an essential portion of any intelligible system of ethics or social science.Footnote For many, the behaviour of these dynamic and somewhat bedraggled women, clad in sodden attire, was far from ladylike. The following year he became joint Master with Mrs Mildred Cheesman who had been celebrated as the first lady master of otter hounds in the Daily Mail in 1905, as discussed earlier in this paper. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings. 23. Ernest Bell, Cat Worrying by Sportsmen, The Animals Friend (1905), 1823. Prior to the maritime fur trade which began in the late eighteenth century, sea otters ranged from Japan, north through the Aleutian Islands and down the Pacific coast of North America to Baja California (Barabash-Nikiforov 1947). 67 63. And since I have never seen an otter, except behind the glass of a painted case, who am I to say that the otter does not enjoy the fun of having its belly bloodily ripped? Some of the recurring questions included: Have we reached such a pitch of humaneness in our treatment of wild animals that no further legislation is desired? and What made it more desirable for individuals, rather than Societies, to promote such legislation? These questions got no response from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the putative otter hunting bill became for many just another means to criticise its inadequacy and hypocrisy. Master of Crowhurst Otter Hounds, Picture Post, 22nd July 1939, Volume 4, Number 3. Although in the book he admits this was partly due to the animal's nocturnal behaviour, in the shortened leaflet the omission of the introductory paragraph made otter hunting the prime reason for his misfortune. 12. It appears to be more about human behaviour than animal suffering. 79. 30 Ernest Bell, The Barnstaple Cat-Worrying Case, The Animals Friend (1906), 43. Bobcats and otters or their pelts must be delivered to an agent of the Conservation Department for registration or tagging before selling, transferring, tanning or mounting by April 10. Diana Donald argues, however, that the resulting canvas, six and a half feet high, had no precedent in British sporting art in the way it combined archaic pageantry and brutal actuality with the hunter twisting the spear so the otter does not immediately fall to the hounds. 29 Has data issue: false In 1844 Landseer's The Otter Speared polarised opinion about otter hunting which was condemned by many as barbaric. In 2010 a painting normally considered too upsetting for modern tastes which while impressive was also undeniably gruesome was displayed at an exhibition of British sporting art at the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle. chicago hope academy lawsuit, back forty beer owner,