http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog A blog about rural life in the UK, our countryside and my country life. It's all here, farming, gardening, wildlife, animals and rural dating. Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:41:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/amersham-horse-trader-gets-6-months/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/amersham-horse-trader-gets-6-months/#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:38:51 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=656 Amersham horse trader, James Gray,has finally been sentenced (yipee) after being found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to 40 equines, following a 12 week trial. While it is not the sentence many equine lovers would like it was the maximum the Judge could hand down. James Gray was sentenced to 6 months in prison, a [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/amersham-horse-trader-gets-6-months/feed/ 5 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/uk-food-labelling-animal-welfare-groups/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/uk-food-labelling-animal-welfare-groups/#comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:03:45 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=650 Why would I include animal welfare groups in this series of articles about UK food labelling? In other articles we’ve looked at this issue from the side of food producers and food processors, both are obvious players in the UK food labelling saga. However animal welfare groups, like Compassion In World Farming (CIWF) and the [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/uk-food-labelling-animal-welfare-groups/feed/ 6 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/amersham-horses-guilty-verdict/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/amersham-horses-guilty-verdict/#comments Mon, 11 May 2009 14:20:01 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=569 Finally a verdict in the Amersham horses case … GUILTY … hurrah. James Gray and his son James Gray Junior (the youth that could not be named for legal reasons) were found guilty of all 11 counts of animal cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. His wife Julie and daughters Jodie and Cordelia, after [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/amersham-horses-guilty-verdict/feed/ 10 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/amersham-horses-update-april-2009/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/amersham-horses-update-april-2009/#comments Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:39:43 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=548 One year and two weeks after I last posted about the Amersham horses welfare case we still don’t have a conclusion in one of the largest animal welfare cases ever held in Britain. Fair enough, the wheels of justice do tend to grind painfully slowly but this case just seems to beggar belief. If it [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/amersham-horses-update-april-2009/feed/ 9 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/is-british-farming-necessary/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/is-british-farming-necessary/#comments Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:04:38 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=359 I would really like to thank a reader of this blog for her recent comments on the post about the Welsh badger cull to stem the spread of bTB in Wales which was recently announced. It is difficult to sum up this blog or why I do it but these comments have given me the [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/is-british-farming-necessary/feed/ 6 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/british-egg-production-where-do-your-eggs-come-from/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/british-egg-production-where-do-your-eggs-come-from/#comments Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:57:45 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=282 I’m really lucky, when I fancy an egg sandwich I just nip out to the barn, push a chicken or duck out of the way and grab a couple of fresh eggs. Not many people are that lucky and most have to buy their eggs in a supermarket but do you understand all that marking [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/british-egg-production-where-do-your-eggs-come-from/feed/ 20 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/help-countryside-garden-wildlife-survive-the-winter/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/help-countryside-garden-wildlife-survive-the-winter/#comments Sun, 14 Dec 2008 14:17:06 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=204 By providing some suitable areas of hibernation and nutritious food we can help our countryside garden wildlife survive the winter months. Here are a few simple things we can do to help our garden wildlife in winter but won’t take much time or effort, so there is no excuse! There are three ways wildlife can [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/help-countryside-garden-wildlife-survive-the-winter/feed/ 10 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/understanding-horses/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/understanding-horses/#comments Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:57:25 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=195 There’s a new blog on the block called HorseHandler for horse behavioural problems, written by equine behaviorist Steve Thompson and is a jolly good read. In his about me section Steve says “My work involves teaching horses and their handlers how to get around behaviour issues without conflict. My ‘motto’ is Compassion, Consideration, Cooperation because [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/understanding-horses/feed/ 1 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/working-dogs-should-work/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/working-dogs-should-work/#comments Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:45:33 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=181 There are few sadder sights than an overweight miserable dog designed for country sports lolling by the fire waiting for the next meal to magically appear before it. From sheep dogs to gun dogs to hunting dogs and beyond we often see these dogs bought and kept as family pets with little more than a [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/working-dogs-should-work/feed/ 2 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/uk-backs-re-emergence-of-ivory-trade/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/uk-backs-re-emergence-of-ivory-trade/#comments Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:57:38 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=162 Congratulations to the British government for yet another astoundingly unpopular and insane decision. During the 80′s the elephant population was halved due to the world ivory trade, hence the ban on ivory trading in 1989. At a meeting of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) in Geneva Britain voted to allow China (the [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/uk-backs-re-emergence-of-ivory-trade/feed/ 1