Police in Great Britain are investigating the Surrey Anti-Hunt Campaign after it allegedly sent letters that could be interpreted as attempts at intimidation and/or blackmail.
There has been an active and very violent campaign against hunting in Surrey County. In 2001, for example, activists set fire to two vehicles that belonged to a Dr. Richard Cockerill. Cockerill was not a hunter, but his name ended up on a list of fox hunters that was circulated by Surrey Anti-Hunt Campaign. In October, a hunting supporters jeep was fire bombed. In October 2000, an incendiary device was detonated in a van owned by a hunt supporter, and another device was found in the car of another hunt supporter (though the device was discovered before it went off).
Recently hunting supporters received letters in the mail which were clearly a veiled threat. Signed by Andrew Batchelor of the Surrey Anti-Hunt Campaign, the letter read, in part,
We are led to understand that a number of supporters [of hunting] are intending not to renew their subscriptions to the hunt or be involved with them in any way. If you are on of those people we commend you (sic) decision to dissociate yourself from the history of trouble this hunt has been connected with. To prevent misunderstandings, we are requesting that you detach and return the slip below, stating whether you have severed your connections with the Old Surrey and Burstow with West Kent Hunt or whether you will be continuing as a supporter.
Several hunt supporters turned the letters over to police who are investigating the matter.
Source:
Hunt saboteurs are accused of blackmail over ‘amnesty’ offer. Charles Clover, The Daily Telegraph, January 17, 2002.