Top Stories

14/03/24, Devon County Sabs and Mendip Sabs found terrier men from the Axe Vale Hunt digging out at a badger sett. The men were digging for around two hours whilst the terrier was latched onto the fox underground. The fox was thrown in front of the sabs and it escaped into the woodland. The terrier was bleeding profusely, causing the terrier man’s jacket to become soaked with its blood.

On the same day, Kernow Sabs revealed that the East Cornwall Hunt had been suspended. The hunt is under investigation for attempting to dig out a fox on Bodmin Moor to send to the waiting Taunton Vale Foxhounds’ huntsman and his pack.

Cumbria Hunt Sabs released footage of the Eskdale and Ennerdale Foxhounds trying to bolt a fox that had gone to ground deep in amongst some rock falls. For 40 minutes the huntsman tries to bolt the fox. Not only is this clearly fox hunting, it takes place on National Trust land.

Plymouth and West Devon Hunt Sabs report that a hound from the Wynnstay Hunt was killed by a motorist early on Sunday morning. (The Wynnstay Hunt was having a joint meeting with the Spooners and West Dartmoor Hunt). The motorist did take it to the vet, but it did not survive. The hound had become separated from the pack and had been wandering around lost overnight.

Channel 4 covered the policing of hunts in another news item. Matt Western, the Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington, said he could not get any satisfactory response from Warwickshire Police concerning the content of a secret protocol between Warwickshire Hunt and Warwickshire Police. The protocol has now disappeared suddenly but a Community Protection Notice (which it was deemed to replace) has not been reinstated.

One day after the news item, Warwickshire Rural Crime Team announced that they have charged Benjamin Halsall, 23,with Hunting a Wild Mammal With Dogs under the Hunting Act 2004, along with Warwickshire Hunt Limited. The incident took place on 9 October 23. Halsall and Warwickshire Hunt Ltd will appear in Leamington Spa Magistrates Court on 31 May 2024. Charging a corporate body with illegal hunting has not happened before.

The BBC presented a short item concerning the Holderness Hunt. The news item showed their trail layer, who looked very unfit indeed. The Holderness Hunt is under police investigation for hunting offences on three separate occasions.

The Oakley Hunt is due to finish at the end of this season and the Hunt Saboteurs Association think its time has finally come. The hunt’s collapse is in line with the general decline all hunts are experiencing due to public opinion, landlords not wishing to have their land and crops damaged, and businesses not wishing to be associated with what is a criminal pastime.

 

BADGER CULL

The government has U-turned on its plans to phase out the badger cull.

 

 

SAB SUCCESSSES

On Monday 18th March,  East Kent Hunt Sabs alerted the police to the illegal hunting of hares by the Downland Beagles. The hunt went into hiding when they realised that the police were on their way and so the hunt was effectively sabbed.

Hunt saboteurs were amongst those organisations that opposed the creation of a new zoo at Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire. The plans for the zoo have been rejected.

The HSA has produced a review of the season’s foxhunting news. 

https://www.huntsabs.org.uk/2024/03/25/

 

OTHER STORIES

The Sinnington Hunt is planning to raise money from a day’s shooting on Saturday,1st of June. Entry is £275 per gun! If it goes ahead, it could be a real money spinner.

Humberside Police escorted the Sheffield sabs from a field in the mistaken belief that they were guilty of aggravated trespass. The Grove and Rufford Hunt were out hunting, and wearing full hunting attire, had field riders with them, watching supporters, but had told the police that they were just ‘exercising their hounds’.

The Three Counties Hunt Sabs were accused of harassing the Cotswold Hunt. They were checking badger setts hours before the Cotswold Hunt was due to go out.

The Scottish Government has implemented the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill (Muirburn is the setting fire to moorland). Grouse moors will require licences and they must be in place for the start of the 2024 grouse shooting season. The codes of practice are yet to be set in place. The new legislation also bans the use of snares and wildlife traps. Because of the licensing requirements, the new law may not become totally effective until September 2025.

In Southern Ireland, a charity has refused a donation because the money is “tainted”. A developer in Ireland knowingly buried a badger sett under tonnes of clay, almost certainly causing the deaths of the occupying badgers by suffocation. He was convicted under the Wildlife Act 1976 and the Wildlife Amendment Act, 2000, and received a sentence which he subsequently appealed. The appeal court judge quashed the original conviction and convicted him of a lesser offence, altering the sentencing to a €15,000 fine to be split between three Irish charities. The Irish Wildlife Trust, one of the three charities named by the judge, are refusing their €5,000 payment. The new conviction releases the crime perpetrator (McCarthy) from having a criminal record. 

Cheshire Monitors spotted that the Horse and Hound magazine has produced an article full of admiration of the Wynnstay Hunt. The article does not mention Wynnstay’s appearances in court, nor their conviction for illegal hunting, nor blocking badger setts, and nor for their public order offences. https://www.facebook.com/cheshiremonitors.

Thomas Ledbury was captured on film overseeing the throwing of a live fox to a pack of hounds whilst he was a serving terrier man with the Avon Vale Hunt. A young child is not 6 feet away from the incident. At Swindon Magistrates Court on 18th of March, he was sentenced to a 12-month community order with a requirement to undertake 240 hours of unpaid work. Previous to this conviction two other members of the hunt had been found guilty of causing cruelty to a fox and sentenced. This incident came to light through seized phone footage belonging to a Hunt member.

Staffordshire Hunt Sabs Facebook page reports on Philippa Claire Ward and the Albrighton Hunt. In an interview with the police she admitted she had committed common assault but claimed it was self defence. The police did not take further action.

https://www.facebook.com/100066759907483/posts/pfbid02aY2qHhA5HUV7SNFMACrZq2BJQDxEevdDV9kE5jHQApqQ3Wb3oRWrfx7SvEXtPc4Al/?

The South Tetcott Hunt had to cancel their Tractor Run due to “lack of interest”.

 

Campaigns

Do you live in a rural area? Let your MP, or election candidates, know that you live in the countryside and you don’t support hunting of any kind. Don’t let the pro hunting lobby get away with the lie that all rural people either go hunting, support hunting or make their living by it. it is CRUCIAL that we get the message out there. We’ll even send a postcard to your MP for you. It couldn’t get much easier.

AAF is still looking for somebody to organise outreach for the people of Cheshire. You can see from the above report from Cheshire Monitors that there is plenty of work to do either by mail or by outreach work which will be particularly valuable in the lead up to the general election. (Public awareness of animal related issues will be important.)

 

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