THE Cheshire Hunt has hit back after it was revealed it will not face prosecution over an incident in which a pack of dogs allegedly attacked an animal rights campaigner.
But Chris Owen of Clotton, who said he was bitten by the stray dogs in his backyard, indicated his desire to take out a private prosecution in relation to the alleged incident on January 10.
Cheshire Constabulary passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for it to consider whether it wished to pursue a prosecution if it believed an of-fence has been committed.
A police spokesman said: 'We gathered the evidence and asked the CPS for their advice. No further action will be taken.'
The spokesman said he was not allowed to divulge the grounds for the decision.
Richard Thomas, a joint master of the Hunt said, as a member of the League Against Cruel Sports, Mr Owen had an axe to grind.
'These people will do anything to get some bad publicity for us,' he said. 'I stand by what we said originally. There wasn't anything, we don't feel there was anything in it. We co-operated fully with everybody involved and we are pleased to see the CPS thought there was no case to answer.'
Mr Owen previously told The Chronicle: 'Even if the CPS doesn't want to prosecute, I will take out a private prosecution anyway. I would not have taken it further except they [the Hunt] publicly accused me of lying.'
Mr Owen wonders whether the CPS is not prosecuting because of a grey area in the law. Legislation relies on the alleged victim being able to identify the individual dog which attacked them, whereas he says he was overrun by a pack and bitten by more than one.
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