Top Stories

The Daily Mirror carried the footage of the last moments of a young stag being shot by a Devon and Dorset Staghounds member. The stag was pursued for over three hours over 10.1 miles of challenging terrain. He was shot by Sean Kellway. Hunt support turned out in their hundreds and contributed to the day by turning the stag back towards hunt when he could have escaped. 

Avon and Somerset, Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Cleveland, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Lancashire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, and Nottinghamshire elected new PCCs replacing the previous Conservative ones.  Angelique Foster the previous PCC for Derbyshire supported the Barlow Hunt.

Philip Seccombe (PCC for Warwickshire, involved in the Warwickshire Hunt protocol scandal) won, but his majority was only 300 – reduced from 40,000.

Over 10 000 people have signed the AAF and Protect the Wild’s petition, asking them not to host the criminal Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt. However, the Hotel has completely ignored all attempts to engage with them.

Another new hunt saboteur group has formed. The Two Counties Hunt Saboteurs will operate in Somerset and Dorset.  

 

Hunt behaviour

East Herts Hunt Sabs report vandalism against their vehicle by members of the Puckeridge and Essex Union Hunt. On the last meet of the year for the Hunt, a wing mirror was smashed by one of the quad terrier men.

Kernow Sabs, Monitors and Animal Rights Team report that Gillian Molesworth has resigned from the Mastership of the North Cornwall Hunt. Apparently, her husband does not support hunting with dogs. She said as she left, “Trail hunting is always adapting its role as regulations change,…”  The last change in regulation was 2005 and there has been none since. 

On 5th May, the Cottesmore Hunt had one of their attempts at raising funds with a fun day ride. Fewer than 30 guests attended, and the absence of senior hunt master Bee Bell was noted by the sabs at the gate.

Manchester Hunt Sabs report that on Wednesday 17th April, along with other Hunt Sabs groups, they packed up the Northern Counties Minkhounds. Mink hunting begins as soon as the stag hunting season ends.

court

Anthony Williams of the Wynnstay Hunt is due in court on 15th July, charged with racial abuse.

Grove and Rufford Hunt supporter, John Partridge, has been sentenced to a community order, including an 8-week curfew, (9.00pm till 6.00am confined to his home address), attendance at 20 rehabilitation sessions and a payment to sabs of £390 in compensation for slashed tyres. The offence occurred in January 2023.

Four men are due to stand trial over the fox that was killed in a garden in Highham,  Norfolk. The high-profile incident, which took place in February 2023, was caught on CCTV by the owners of the garden. The CPS  has rejected the defendants’ not guilty plea. Edward Bell, Adam Eggingon, and Andrew Kendall and Robert Gurney are facing charges of illegal hunting, being in charge of dogs dangerously out of control, and criminal damage. The case will be heard in July.

This also caught our attention

As a result of the council elections, Peterborough Hunt Sabs were pleased to announce that  Andy Coles, a Conservative Councillor has lost his seat. Their interest in this particular Conservative Councillor is due to the fact that he was engaged in infiltrating the hunt saboteur movement as a member of the special police squad in the 1990s and also tricked a 19-year old animal rights activist into a sexual (long term) relationship with him.  Andy Coles had been a PCC for Cambridgeshire until May 2017 when he had to resign after being exposed as an undercover police officer.

North London Sabs held a fundraiser at Unity Diner on 28^th April. They raised £3000 from the event. “Countryside Fightback” (a pro hunt Facebook page) said that the people attending the event were “told to spread out and mix with other diners” to make the diner look full. There were no other diners as the restaurant was closed to members of the public.

Thank you to all the saboteur and monitor groups whose hit reports we have used in our Newsbyte. Please let us know if we have made any mistakes – info@actionagainstfoxhunting.org

Campaigns and things to do (now)

The Newt in Somerset hosts the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale hunt at their exclusive hotel. Protect the Wild has teamed up with AAF to petition The Newt, asking them to refuse to host in future. So far, over 10 000 people have signed the petition and emailed the venue. The venue has completely ignored all attempts to contact them. Please sign the petition, if you haven’t already done so.

https://protectthewild.org.uk/thenewtpetition/

AAF volunteers have carried out our Rural Survey in Colchester, Midsomer Norton, Bridport, Glastonbury, Wells and Axbridge. So far, we have surveyed over 700 passers-by and around 600 of them are rural residents. Not unexpectedly, we discovered that only 5% of rural residents support hunting with dogs. As this is clearly not a popular “sport”, we anticipate that the next step the pro-hunting lobby will take will be to say they are a minority who need to be protected. Of course, minorities do need protection, but not if they are breaking the law and causing harm to people and animals.  The RURAL SURVEY is available for anyone to use. Please contact Pip, on info@actionagainstfoxhunting.org for further information. 

AAF Outreach

Outreach is our business. We need to talk to people outside of Social Media. Standing in the street, talking to people about foxhunting is easier than you might think.  Please contact Alyson Rogers, Outreach Advisor a.rogers@actionagainstfoxhunting.org and she will help you to everything you need.