Oliver Dale, huntsman and Master of the North Cotswold Hunt, has been charged with three instances of illegal hunting under the Hunting Act by Gloucestershire Police. The alleged offences took place at various locations on three dates; the first took place during a cubbing meet on 12 Oct 2024, then at the Opening Meet on 02 Nov 2024, the third incident occurred just a fortnight later on 16th Nov 2024. The first incident resulted in a fox being killed, with some of the body parts of the victim being retrieved by police, and in the later two incidents the fate of the animals are unknown.
Sam Staniland, ex-huntsman of the Essex & Suffolk and Meynell & South Staffs Hunts, was sentenced on 10th April at Norwich magistrates court following his conviction on six charges of animal cruelty. Despite what judge Matthew Bone described as “depraved” and “frankly sadistic behaviour”, Staniland escaped the prison time he so richly deserved.
Yesterday, four members of the notorious Blackmore & Sparkford Vale Hunt were found guilty at Weymouth Magistrates Court of hunting a wild mammal with dogs in breach of the Hunting Act.
The West Country is a popular holiday destination, known for its rolling hills and charming villages. But for some visitors the idyllic scenery can be shattered by an unexpected and brutal spectacle: a stag hunt.
The Hunt Saboteurs Association has been passed damning footage of the Derbyshire-based Dove Valley Mink Hounds attempting to illegally hunt and kill mink. The footage, taken last summer, shows hunt staff and others using a long, extendable pole to try to dislodge the animal from a tree.
We are now several weeks into the Spring Stag Hunting season. As opposed to the trophy hunting of Autumn Stag hunting, Spring Stag hunting is all about the sport of the chase, with a young stag between one and three years old being selected.
A lot has been going on up in the Lake District. We’ve seen two well-established sab groups, Lancashire Hunt Sabs and Cumbria Hunt Sabs merging to form one super group: Lake District Hunt Sabs.
With the groups joining forces, we’ve seen more of the lesser known Cumbrian hunts receiving attention – packs like the Lunsdale Foxhounds, Coniston Foxhounds, North Cumberland Hunt and the Eskdale & Ennerdale Foxhounds are finding themselves regularly sabbed, along with hunts you may have already heard o such as the Blencathra Foxhounds and Melbreak Foxhounds. The Lake District has some of the most challenging terrain for sabbing. We asked the newly formed Lake District Hunt Sabs the reasons behind the two groups merging, and this is what they told us….
In yet another blow to the hunting lobby, two Somerset hunts – the Weston & Banwell/West Somerset Vale Hunt (W&BWSV) and the Taunton Vale Harriers – have been forced to merge in a desperate attempt to survive.
Members of the two hunts gathered at an Emergency General Meeting last Tuesday evening at the Fox and Goose Pub near Highbridge. They met to decide on their future and vote on an amalgamation with the neighbouring Taunton Vale Harriers.
On Saturday 15th March, West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs and Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs attended a Croome & West Warwickshire Hunt meet at Marshall’s Transport Ltd on Pershore Airfield, Throckmorton.
After hunting behind Evesham Crematorium – whilst a service was in progress – the hunt moved on north and the hounds were put into a barn at Middle Buildings which is part of Hill Court Farm. With the hounds hunting through the farm and the huntsman encouraging the hounds on, a Three Counties Hunt sab nearest to the farm radioed through to West Mids Hunt Sabs that they may have been on a fox and they quickly got the drone up and over the farm.
Warwickshire Hunt member Benjamin Halsall, 24, from Whatcote Road, Shipston- on-Stour, was yesterday found guilty of hunting a wild mammal with dogs after hounds were filmed killing a fox.
Following last week’s bombshell ITV broadcast perhaps the scandal of undercover police despatched into left wing groups is at last getting the attention it deserves. The Undercover Policing Inquiry, the state investigation into the spycops scandal, has just concluded another round of hearings. This latest phase of the inquiry, (Tranche 2) examined the years 1983 […]
It was the final meet of the season for seasoned foxhunters the Grove & Rufford last Saturday. Sabs were on them all day and frustration boiled over – they were clearly determined to go out with a bang. The venue was Hodsock Cottage Farm, a meet notorious for violence thanks, in part, to its proximity to the Sandbeck shooting estate.
On Saturday 8th March, Glasgow Hunt Sabs attended a meet of the Dumfriesshire & Stewartry (D&S) Hunt near the village of Thornhill, marking the first visit from sabs since the hunt’s formation in 2006.
The arrival of hunt sabs at one of the last meets of the season took the hunt by surprise. Clearly unsettled by their presence, the hunt attempted to drive sabs off by riding horses at them and using a number of tactics to hold them up.
Last week former huntsman Sam Staniland pleaded guilty to three animal cruelty offences relating to illegal hunting and animal fighting. Between 2020 and 2023, foxes and badgers were targeted by Staniland in a number of incidents in Essex, with lurchers, patterdale terriers and a foxhound also being injured in the process. He was facing three further charges, but they were dismissed as part of proceedings.
February may be the shortest month, but it wasn’t short of hunts being persistently sabbed, sabs using drones, illegal hunting, hunt violence and hunt trespass. The 18th of February marked the 20th anniversary of the Hunting Act coming into force and 20 years on sabs are still witnessing hounds hunting foxes to ground in badger setts, setts being blocked and terriermen going equipped.
The coursing of wildlife with sight hounds across the eastern counties hit the national headlines recently with the rampage of a gang of approximately 70 individuals in multiple vehicles across the countryside around Ely at the end of January.
It was widely reported that many emergency calls were made to the police by the local community as hares and deer were killed and crops and property damaged. With no units attending, the gang continued with impunity for several hours and will undoubtedly be emboldened to do the same again by the lack of law enforcement.
Spring has finally sprung…foxes will soon be giving birth to their cubs, hares are putting on their spectacular boxing displays, and the Hunt Saboteurs Association is having sale.
York Hunt Sabs sent the following report.
The notorious Middleton Hunt met at Woodside Farm Bed & Breakfast/Holiday cottages in Westow/Howsham on Wednesday 12th February.
Today, Sam Staniland, the former huntsman of the Essex & Suffolk Hunt, appeared at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court facing six charges related to animal cruelty, including allowing dogs to fight with badgers and foxes. The case was brought by the RSPCA and Suffolk Police Rural Crime Team, following evidence discovered when police seized Staniland’s phone during an investigation into a separate fox hunting incident.
In November 2024, the Beaufort Hunt were hunting foxes at Widley’s Gorse, located on farmland owned by the Duke of Beauforts’ Badminton Estate, when the pack of hounds attacked a fox which was seeking refuge in a badger sett. Wiltshire Hunt Sabs were present and monitoring the hunt with a drone, which captured footage of the hounds attacking the badger sett. After the attack, aware that sabs had likely filmed the attack, the huntsman led the hounds to nearby Commonwood Farm, a regular hunt safe-haven, while the sab drone continued to track their movements overhead. Unbeknown to sabs, the hunt had a countermeasure prepared.
