Despite claiming to be the governing body for all hound “sports,” it appears that the BHSA have little to no authority over the packs they are professing to govern.
At the end of last year, the BHSA issued a statement, which was effective from the 17th of December 2025, banning terrier men and terrier work from hunt days. Part of the statement reads, “No vehicle carrying terriers, terrier boxes, or equipment intended or configured for terrier work may accompany, follow, or be associated with a day’s trail hunting.”
This statement was triggered by the release of the sickening footage obtained by Lake District Hunt Sabs of the Coniston Foxhounds digging out a fox and throwing it to hounds. Since then, hunts across the country have chosen to ignore the BHSA’s statement and have continued to not only have terrier men present on hunt days, but we have continued to see dig outs and the use of terriers to flush out foxes.
On the 20th of January 2026 Northants Hunt Sabs caught masked up terrier men at the Cottesmore Hunt digging at a badger sett, which was situated right next to a covert that convicted Cottesmore huntsman Sam Jones, began hunting only an hour later. In a desperate attempt to flee the scene the terrier men sped away on quad bikes, leaving a bloody and injured terrier behind.
On the 02nd of February 2026, Devon County Hunt Sabs reported of terrier men Jake Crabb and Tom Bounsall being present at the Eggesford Hunt, equipped with spades and terriers loaded on their quad bikes. This occurred on the same day that Channel 4 featured footage of the Eggesford Hunt, on Boxing Day, digging out and chasing a fox.
Furthermore, on the 12th of February 2026 a fox was seen being flushed from a covert, before going to ground. A rider who had seen the fox made their way to the huntsman and moments later, a terrier man appeared on his quad bike. He removed a terrier from his quad and entered the area where the fox was believed to be, with a collar tracker in his hand, as he waited for the terrier to locate the fox. This was all caught on a drone by Wiltshire Hunt Sabs and Devon County Hunt Sabs. When the terrier man became aware of the presence of the drone, he hid.
All of these incidents at The Eggesford Hunt have occurred after the BHSA’s ‘terrier man ban’ came into force.
On the 07th of February 2026 The South Dorset Hunt had six quad bikes out with them loaded with terrier men. One of which stole a sabs radio and stamped on it before a young child on the back of one of the quads ran to retrieve it. In another incident on the same day, a member of Weymouth Animals Rights was driven at by one of these terrier men because they’d called hounds off the line of a fox.
How did the BHSA propose to enforce these rules and who will be held responsible? “Hunts and Masters are responsible for ensuring that no terrier work or terrier-related activity is associated with a day’s trail hunt.”
With that in mind, how will the Mendip Farmers Hunt explain away the fact that two days after footage aired on Channel 4 news of them hunting and killing a fox, Hunt Master Sam Colbourn is standing amidst four terrier men.
It’s not only wildlife crime that terrier men commit, they frequently use violence against hunt saboteurs, as we’ve recently seen at The Grove and Rufford Hunt. In footage released by Sheffield Hunt Saboteurs, Josh Taylor uses his quad bike to block a sab before knocking them to the ground and proceeding to punch them in the head. The attack continues when the saboteur asks for their bodycam back. Again, this came after the BHSA’s ‘rules’ were supposed to be in force, effectively meaning that Josh should not have even been present this day and that the hunt and masters are ultimately responsible for this attack.
How can the BHSA claim to be a governing body when hunts are blatantly ignoring their governance? Maybe this statement was simply a PR stunt to try and project a further smokescreen and to save their own skin in the aftermath of the Coniston Foxhounds dig out footage being released.
As part of their statement, the BHSA had promised disciplinary action towards hunts who were not complying with these new rules. However, as far as we are aware, there have been no actions taken, and hunts continue to openly breach the conditions set out by the BHSA. So, they are either obsolete and have no authority over their affiliated packs, or they never had any intention of enforcing these rules. Either way it’s just further proof that “trail hunting” is a smokescreen and that hunts will continue to break the law unless it is strengthened. They have had twenty years to comply and get their house in order, it’s now too little too late.
The HSA is continuing to fight for a full ban on hunting, and you can view our Witness The End Of Hunting booklet by clicking the button below.
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