Catch up on recent news from the Hunt Saboteurs Association
On the day that hunters gather around the country to promote the smokescreen of ‘trail hunting’, the HSA has been passed a ground-breaking, year-long investigation into a single artificial earth used by the Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn (Wynnstay) Hunt.
In just 24 hours the North Cotswold Hunt will be presenting itself as shining example of a ‘trail hunting’ pack as it hosts of one of seven gatherings across the country for National Trail Hunting Day – an event dubbed Farcical Friday by the HSA.
This Friday sees the second National Trail Hunting Day, dubbed Farcical Friday by the HSA. The event has been cobbled together by pro-bloodsports lobby group the British Hound Sports Association in an attempt to present ‘trail hunting’ as a legitimate activity.
The Dorset-based Park Beagles have folded, according to pro-hunt lobby group the Countryside Alliance. As with the Sandhurst & Aldershot Beagles , which we reported last week, the Park Beagles have become a so-called ‘hunt club’, which means they have given up their hounds and staff and will therefore continue to exist in name only. […]
How the Atherstone Hunt became history and how West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs made it happen.
On the 24th of September 2025 the Atherstone Hunt was officially consigned to the history books, almost six years after they disbanded and ceased hunting. A hard-fought campaign by West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs that spanned over six years, saw a demise in hunt support and due to a persistent sab presence, the hunt ultimately had no other option than to concede defeat.
Yesterday, Monday 28th September, HSA representatives attended the Labour Party conference in Liverpool (well, we were outside actually, as it’s very expensive to set up inside and we don’t want to misuse our supporter’s donations!), to show MPs and Labour Party attendees the depth of feeling around strengthening the Hunting Act.
With the official start of the hare hunting season just a few weeks away, news reaches the HSA that the Sandhurst & Aldershot Beagles – unaffectionately known as ‘SAB’- are no more. This is excellent news for local lagomorphs as the Sandhurst had a reputation as fast, effective pack who killed a lot of hares.
The season so far.
The stag hunting season has only been underway for just over a month and already stags in the Southwest of England have been subjected to abhorrent levels of cruelty and pain by the stag hound packs, who, for over twenty years have hidden behind loopholes such as ‘Research & Observation’.
Since the Devon & Somerset Staghounds official opening meet on the 30th August multiple stags have been terrorised and killed. A common tactic by stag hunt supporters is to use their vehicles to block roads, preventing stags from seeking respite or escaping, and the 30th August was no different, as followers prevented a group of stags from crossing the B2332 in Ashcombe and again at Simonsbath. Despite fifty car followers being present, it was clear that support for this barbaric hunt is dwindling with a noticeable decrease in both riders and car followers for their opening meet. Thankfully on this day a combination of poor weather, sab pressure and another stag from the herd creating a diversion, meant that the hunts chosen stag escaped on this occasion.
For decades, Bath Hunt Sabs have been on the front lines against hunting. Let’s take a look back at their history.
The HSA is delighted to hear that pro-hunting lobby group the British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) is to waste more of its member’s time and money by holding another ‘National Trail Hunting Day’ on Friday 10th October. The HSA thoroughly enjoyed reporting on last year’s expensive and pointless fiasco, where packs laid on a highly […]
On Saturday (6th September) hunt sabs shut down the Three Counties Mink Hounds in Warwickshire.
Sabs from the Nottingham, Severn Vale, Three Counties and West Midlands groups mobilised after receiving intel that the hunt would be meeting at Whitehouse Farm, Aston Cantlow in Warwickshire – the home of former hunt master, Mark Allen.
The hunt was stopped in their tracks less than half an hour after they started, moving south along the River Alne.
All charges have been dropped against members of Severn Vale Hunt Saboteurs who were arrested back in January 2025 as they prevented illegal hunting by the Radley College Beagles near Faringdon in Oxfordshire. Severn Vale sabs – who specialise in disrupting hare-hunting beagle and basset packs – arrived in the vicinity of Pidnell Farm near […]
It was the will-they, won’t-they, on-off relationship that had the nation gripped for months, but the HSA can exclusively reveal that the Herefordshire-based Ross Harriers have walked out on hunting’s regulatory body, the British Hound Sports Association.
Our annual campaign to disrupt the high-profile ‘Glorious 12th’ – the opening day of the gamebird shooting season – every August targeting the grouse moors of the north of England has been immensely successful. Many shoots now deliberately schedule opening meets later in the week and beyond to avoid us. However, today is where the […]
As the government’s consultation on so-called ‘trail hunting’ edges ever closer, the increasingly desperate Countryside Alliance have launched a scheme where new members can nominate a hunt to receive fifty pounds from CA coffers.
This week has seen sabs across the country out in force while most people are still asleep. For many hunts, the cubbing season has now started. Sab groups have been keeping an eye on their local hunts and have reported that many of them, who would usually still be ‘hound exercising’, are instead now surrounding coverts and sending their hounds in to kill foxes. The early start to the cubbing season has come about largely due to farmers harvesting their crops early, as well as a sense amongst the hunting community that this could very well be their last season if Labour stick to their manifesto pledge to ban ‘trail hunting’.
Avian Influenza has been a significant problem in the UK since 2021 and it’s no coincidence that the latest outbreak comes as the shooting industry gears up for the pheasant and partridge shooting seasons. In August 2022 the HSA revealed shocking undercover footage of gamebirds being reared at Shelford Pheasantries in Newark on Trent. The appalling conditions at the farm failed to comply with DEFRA’s own Code of Practice for the Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes.
Cubbing – the sick form of hunting used to train their new hounds – is already underway in parts of the country. Cubbing takes place in the early morning or late afternoon when the summer day is cooler, and the scenting conditions are better for inexperienced hounds.
Last Saturday, Devon County Hunt Sabs were tipped off about an evening cubbing meet of the Eggesford Hunt at Ingleigh Green.
A large contingent of sabs from across the country saved the lives of hundreds of red grouse today on the ‘Glorious Twelfth’, as shoots were stopped in the Forest of Bowland and the Yorkshire Dales.
There is never a dull moment as Hunt Sab groups across Britain continue to confront illegal hunting and wildlife abuse in the fields and in the courts. July was no different. Mid-summer is also the time where many of us can find some time to fundraise to support our operations for the rest of the year….and manage to have a little fun at the same time. Here’s a round-up of what’s been going on out there this month.
