quick news

• Foxes killed by Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire hunts
• Suspected fox kill by Kent hunt
• Four stags killed by two staghound hunts
• Fox chases by Somerset, Gloucestershire, and Devon hunts
• Violence and assaults by Kent, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset, and Cornish hunts
• Lost and blooded dogs from Suffolk hunt
• Dogs and horses from Durham hunt on railway line
• Lincolnshire hunt dog struck by car
• Near miss on road for Cornwall hunt dog
• Public upset by trespass by Lincolnshire, Suffolk, and Cornish hunts
• Dorset huntsman convicted for pollution offence
• Police warning for mother of Cheshire huntsman
• Police confiscate and return saboteur group’s equipment
• Lincoln Police Rural Crime Team praised
• Terrier used by associate of Cheshire hunt
• Incidents of badger sett interference by North Yorkshire hunt
• Welsh hunt dogs amok amongst sheep – lambing season
• Mass sab of Gloucester hunt’s closing meet
• Huntsmen retire from Warwickshire and Staffordshire hunts
• Operation Smokescreen live streams Rutland hunt

TOP STORIES

FOX KILLS
The Beaufort Hunt committed what Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs called “the most barbaric fox kill”, ripping a fox to pieces on 06/03/26. For more on this story, see ‘Police’, below –

The Heythrop Hunt killed a fox in a garden in Condicote on 11/03/26.
Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs report that the day also involved an attack on a saboteur, road havoc, and injury – including to a small child.

West Kent Hunt Saboteurs suspect a fox was killed by the Kent Hounds on 17/03/26, as three dogs were seen “covered in blood’.

STAG KILLS
The Devon & Somerset Staghounds killed a stag on 07/03/26 after a chase of about 6 miles.

The Quantock Staghounds killed a stag on 09/03/26. This was the one-antlered stag they had hunted over a number of years, who had escaped them, and had reached middle-age. His throat was slit to bleed him, and his body driven away with whoops and cheers.

The Devon and Somerset Staghounds killed a stag at circa 6:30pm on 14/03/26 after pretending to pack up.

The Quantock Staghounds killed a young stag on 16/03/26. Exhausted after a long chase, he found himself trapped by fencing which he was too tired to jump, and was shot in front of one of the monitors.

CHASES
A fox was seconds from death when it escaped the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt, eluding a kill for their closing meet on 28/02/26

Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs report a relentless chase of a fox by the Beaufort Hunt on 28/02/26

On 02/03/26, the Devon County Hunt Saboteurs filmed the Eggesford Hunt in pursuit of a fox for 10 minutes. This recording is now with the police

HUNT VIOLENCE
On 24//02/26 a member of the Kent Hounds caused damage to the West Kent Hunt Saboteurs’ vehicle, and sabs were later assaulted by a Kent Hounds terrierman who had had to pack away his quad. (This comes with a bad language warning.)

Another warning of abusive language in this recording by the Plymouth and West Devon Hunt Saboteurs, as Spooner’s & West Dartmoor Hunt support from Tom Bounsall, a pony-tailed man, and Mary Awful Alford “showing what friendly trail hunting is all about”, on a public road at Bellever on Saturday 28/02/2026.

Four members of the Northants Hunt Saboteurs were attacked and one was ridden down by a field rider out with the Beaufort Hunt on 14/03/26, needing hospital treatment for their injuries.

The Mendip Hunt Saboteurs carry a video (08/03/26) on their Facebook page of Jacob Rees-Mogg criticising sabs and their wearing of masks. Hosting the Mendip Farmers Hunt at his home (which he calls “an absolute pleasure”), what Rees-Mogg omitted, but the Sabs’ video also covers, is one of the Hunt’s supporters being very aggressive and threatening right outside his gates.

The Kernow Sabs, Monitors and Animal Rights Team are requesting help to identify the hunter, out with the East Cornwall Hunt, who, on 14/03/26, suddenly turned and rode his horse at a sab and used his whip against her. Their Facebook page shows him clearly and also shows her injuries.

DOGS
Suffolk Action for Wildlife recorded what for hunts is “the usual scenario of a completely lost hound, nose down, trying to find its pack” whilst out on the Thurlow Hunt on 26/02/26  –  the Hunt simply carrying “on with their activities, seeming to not notice, or indeed, care”. One monitor also saw another dog “with a concerning amount of blood over its face and head.”

The Geordie Hunt Saboteurs have a video of the South Durham Hunt progressing along a live railway line with horses and hounds on 07/03/26. There is no doubt that this is an active railway.

The West Cornwall Hunt Saboteurs caught on film a horribly near miss for a Cury Hunt dog on a 60mph road on 14/03/26,

Lincoln Hunt Saboteurs’ report from 07/03/26 contains news that a dog from the Burton Hunt was struck by a car.

TRESPASS
Relating to the Burton Hunt’s meet on the same day, the Lincolnshire Police Rural Crime Action Team put out a post asking for witnesses following a report of illegal fox hunting near the village of Saxby. The police also “received multiple reports that a pack of hounds associated with a hunt had entered private gardens within the local area, causing distress and concern to local residents.”.

A member of the public called the police on 26/02/26 because the Thurlow Hunt were trespassing her garden and causing her upset and distress.

An article carried by ‘Cornwall Live’ reports the distress and loss of earnings caused to a member of the public by the Western Hunt’s trespass on 07/03/26. The dogs are reported to have been uncontrolled for three hours, invading land and creating danger on roads.

POLICE/ CONVICTIONS
Farmer and Master with the South Dorset Hunt, Mark Pearson, was convicted on 24/02/26 having been prosecuted by the Environment Agency over a breach of rules governing slurry and its storage. Pearson admitted the offence and was fined £1200, was ordered to pay £480 victim surcharge and £4075 in costs.  There have been multiple incidents of pollution since 2012 on his farm.

A post by Cheshire Against Blood Sports (CABS) on 08/03/26 reports that police have warned Kathy Dodgson, mother of Cheshire Hunt huntsman Robert Truscott, not to approach a member of CABS, having assaulted the sab earlier this year.

The Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs have now had their equipment returned after it was taken from them by a Wiltshire Police Officer whilst out on the Beaufort Hunt on 06/03/26.
The drone and video footage contains evidence, intended for the Rural Crime Team,
of Beaufort Hunt terriermen flushing foxes from artificial earths and blocking the entrances before the day’s hunting began. Of the hunt itself, several chases and one kill were recorded. A picture now on the Wiltshire Hunt Sabs’ page shows a Beaufort Huntsman receiving a black binbag into which to put the remains of the fox the Hunt had just killed.

Northants Hunt Saboteurs have praised the Lincoln Police Rural Crime Team for responding  quickly to a 999 call on 05/03/26. Upon arrival they deployed their own drone immediately to monitor the Cottesmore Hunt.

OTHER WILDLIFE CRIME
The Cheshire Hunt met at Haughton Hall on 21/02/26. Half an hour prior to the meet, an individual associated with the Hunt put his terrier through an artificial earth in an attempt to flush any foxes harboured within.

The Calder Valley Hunt Saboteurs report the blocking of a badger sett and the presence of an artificial earth by Middleton Hunt on 08/03/26

On 10/03/26, the day before the Middleton Hunt’s closing meet at Birdsall Kennels, members of the York Hunt Saboteurs caught Middleton huntsman, Jason O’Donnell, interfering with badger setts, spraying them with what the Sabs believe was urine. an old tactic used to deter foxes.

SHEEP WORRYING
Footage from 01/03/26 taken by the Cheshire Monitors shows dogs from the Wynnstay Hunt chasing foxes and worrying sheep – during lambing season
A new law (the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Act 2025) came into force on 18/03/26 concerning the worrying of livestock. Dog owners can now face unlimited fines if their dogs attack, chase, or cause distress to farm animals. Llamas and alpacas (camelids) are now included.

OTHER NEWS
Approximately 60 hunt saboteurs attended the closing meeting of the Duke of Beaufort Hunt on 14/03/26. The mass sab included members from: Bristol Hunt Saboteurs, Cirencester Illegal Hunt Watch, Mendip Hunt Saboteurs, Northants Hunt Saboteurs, Reading Hunt Saboteurs, Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs, Two Counties Hunt Saboteurs, Weymouth Animal Rights, and Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs.

The West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs have sabbed the last meet (07/03/26) of Huntsman, William Goffe, who is now retiring from the Warwickshire Hunt. He can thank sabs for the slow strangulation of his Hunt and the amount of countryside available to the Hunt.

Staffordshire HS also said good riddance to their Huntsman, Robert Jarrett from the North Staffordshire Hunt, on 08/03/26 He is, apparently, moving on to become an assistant jockey. Video from the day shows his treatment of his horse.

The Wiltshire Hunt Sabs have a picture of a lady rider who helped remove the evidence of an eviscerated dead fox on 06/03/16. They would like assistance in identifying the rider.

And…

Continuing ‘Operation Smokescreen’ Megan McCubbin, joined by Dr Amir Khan, bore witness to fox chases, injury, and dogs lives in danger from fast traffic, this time in the company of the Northants Hunt Saboteurs as they live broadcast the Cottesmore Hunt’s outing of 07/03/26.