At the beginning of the chapter on farming in Animal Wild, I wrote this:
In May 2021 a cow who had escaped her field was seen in the streets of Woodley, Berkshire. The usual response from the police is to send marksmen out to shoot runaways like this. But Thames Valley Police decided to deal with this one in the cruellest manner they could dream up. The cow posed no immediate threat to anyone, it may or may not have knocked one person over, and was no danger to traffic since the road was closed. The police rammed her with their van once, twice, thrice and a fourth time. Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, Matthew Barber, said the case would be referred to the Independent Office of Police Conduct and that she was “humanely euthanised”. The IOPC then announced that it would not be looking into the incident. A spokeswoman for TVP said that an internal review which had dismissed the possibility of misconduct charges being brought against the officers involved, who, I heard from an internal source, were following the orders of a superior officer, had identified “some areas of learning”. When asked by the BBC what those areas of learning might be, she said, “We wouldn’t go into further detail on that.” A small vigil for the victim took place, organised by the Vegan Action for Animals group, but a vigil online went much further and candles were lit all over the country, my house included. It upset me for days, weeks, it was so unnecessary, so callous and vicious. It saddens and angers me deeply to this day that anyone would think this might be an acceptable way to deal with the situation.
This morning I am viscerally angry again for exactly the same reason. Police have twice rammed a stray young cow, this time in Staines. Chris Packham (and the RSPCA) spoke out on X straight away:
“I don’t know where to start with this. It’s surely illegal and must be investigated and prosecuted. What sort of monster rams a calf? Twice?”
A spokesperson for the IOPC has said: “We have been notified by Surrey Police about this incident and a referral will be made in due course. When we receive it we will carry out an assessment to determine what further action is required by us.”
Will they just dismiss charges of misconduct and fail to look into the incident again? Will the police, again, claim to identify “some areas of learning” which they will refuse to specify because “some” clearly meant “none”.
I am puzzled as to why the media coverage does not mention the incident in Woodley. Does no one remember this?
“Monsters” is the right word for the officers involved. Do they enjoy it? Is this what they teach them at Hendon?
Is this part of the cadet application process?
“How cruel to animals are you prepared to be?”
“Oh, pretty cruel.”
“That won’t do I’m afraid. We need much more from you than that. Next candidate please.”
“How cruel to animals are you prepared to be?”
“Really cruel, proper savage sir. I love it.”
“That’s more like it. Heartless thugs like you are just what we’re after.”
“Thank you sir. I’m hoping I might get a chance to ram a defenceless cow with my police vehicle.”
“Good Lord, that’s going a bit too far … you never know your luck though.”
I have written too about the police acting as a sort of private security firm for the hunting fraternity and recounted the following in Animal Trust:
A fairly senior police officer, once boasted (not confessed) to me that police dogs are mostly trained by “beating the crap out of them until they do what you want.” What does one say to that? I managed “You shouldn’t be beating them,” but how do you even begin to counter and protest that aspect of police culture?
That’s when they’re not busy failing to investigate raptor deaths. As I also reported in Animal Wild though they have time for this:
In a new low, at the end of August 2023, the right-wing, elite-serving media shrieks as one: Chris Packham in “centre of police probe” for sniffing a goshawk chick. He was weighing, sexing and ringing the birds under licence from the British Trust for Ornithology, of which he is president, but dared to deploy his sense of smell. Of all of our dulled senses, is that to be sanitised, wished away, deemed illegal? In theory, the more these people are willing to make themselves look quite so foolish the better. The only thing I smell is the stench of desperation.
This country is broken in so many ways, I suppose this is just one more example. This is from Animal Wild as well:
A farmer, reported to the Avon & Somerset Police in 2010 for shooting red-listed Starlings after his licence had expired, rather than being prosecuted, had his licence extended for a further ten years by Natural England. “The problem with Starlings and lead shot falling into people’s gardens was discussed and [the farmer] was asked to shoot only in the direction of the field and not towards the village, and to pursue wounded birds wherever possible.”
This too:
Two [swans] were attacked locally in Newbury this year, one sustaining an injured beak, the other hit just below the eye. The director of Swan Support, which took the birds into their care, expressed her frustration with Thames Valley Police: “We … feel that our local police force do not seem to take wildlife crime seriously.”
Senior ex-police officers also had time to attend the notorious Hunting webinars of 2020 which laid bare the lies of trail hunting for all to see.
Having issued a Community Protection Notice against the Warwickshire Hunt, this happened, another extract from Animal Wild:
Another e-mail from the HSA days later explains that a senior officer stepped in and came to a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with the Warwickshire hunt, producing the following watered down, non-legally binding protocols:
- Warwickshire Police have agreed to forewarn the Warwickshire Hunt and give them a heads-up an hour before if they intend to come out and police the hunt.
- The police have agreed to inform the hunt if any complaints have been made against them.
- The hunt has demanded monthly meetings with a Chief Inspector.
- The police have agreed that the hunt can have an on-demand liaison officer for any given day.
- The Police have agreed to joint training regarding road safety with the hunt.
- From the hunt’s side, they must inform the police with a calendar of all their meets.
- They must inform all members of the hunt of their responsibilities regarding dogs on the highway.
As a result, thus emboldened and enabled, the Warwickshire hunted and killed a fox on 9th October 2023 according to the HSA, in spite of the best efforts of saboteurs. Special treatment for the elite? Surely not. Except that the police don’t usually forewarn criminal gangs of their presence in advance, provide gang leaders with meetings with a Chief Inspector, promise them a liaison officer whenever they like, nor give special training, all of course at the taxpayers’ expense. I am sure the fact that the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire is a member of the Countryside Alliance had nothing to do with it, there is no conflict of interest there. And that’s just foxes.
For the role and actions of the police in persecuting animal loving protestors, see this post:
Your Neighbour Kills Puppies; Inside the Animal Liberation Movement – Animal Wild
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