August has arrived and with it, the start of the heinous Autumn Staghunting season, which is the trophy hunting portion of the stag hunters’ “sport”. From August to November they target mature rutting stags, royal stags or greater, in the prime of their lives, forcing them to now run for their lives but hampered by their impressive spreads of antlers and heavy body condition following their summer feeding. They are not well adapted to long chases and with so many supporters eyes watching, there is nowhere for them to hide and recover.
“In order to get young hounds trained to hunt they start hunting in the very early morning or evening once the harvest is clear usually in August or September. They are accompanied only by invitation of the Master for this beagling equivalent of the foxhunter’s cub-hunting.” – An Introduction To Beagling by Iain Clarke
A guest article by Devon County Hunt Sabs. Includes video footage of a dig out.
A few weeks ago we were informed by Devon & Cornwall Police that their investigation into one of several incidents we reported last season had concluded. The outcome is that Eggesford Hunt’s Danny Pearce has received a caution for interfering with a protected badger sett and using a terrier to dig out and kill a fox on land he and the hunt had no permission to be on. Pearce is a gamekeeper for Lord Stucley’s Affeton Estate, which also hosts the criminal Eggesford Hunt.
The Decline of the Hunt Uniform
In the Deeply Conservative World of Hunting, What You Wear Matters. the Traditional Dress Code Is Highly Fetishized, with Hunters Agonising over the Correct Number and Position of Buttons That Should Adorn the Hunt Coat. Having a Ribbon on the Back of Your Hunting Cap Is a Serious Offence That Could Get You Sent Home Unless You Are Master or Huntsman and Ladies Should on No Account Combine Jodhpurs with Ratcatcher. You Get the Picture.
Mink hunting with packs of hounds started in the late 1970s. It has its roots in the summer bloodsport of otter hunting, which also took place across the country’s water courses during the summer months.
As we settle in for a long, hot summer the Hunt Saboteurs Association is launching a new T shirt in a very cool camouflage design.
You will hopefully have noticed from previous media releases that the HSA does so much more than support sabs out in the hunting field. Due to our singular work in the hunting fields, we collected evidence which has led to over twenty successful court cases against hunts since 2019. Our groups also use covert cameras and drones to protect animals and catch wildlife criminals in action. No-one else is doing this.
The vixen looks up, startled by a sudden noise. Alert now, she gathers her young cubs and moves swiftly toward her den. It’s dawn, and she is just returning after a night’s feeding. Her cubs are just over four months old — still playful and dependent on her for food, but gradually becoming more independent.
One of the brightest flames in Britain’s animal rights movement has gone out.
Karl Garside, Animal Liberation Front (ALF) activist , hunt saboteur and investigator has passed away aged 59 from heart disease. For more than four decades on the frontlines of the fight for animal liberation, Karl fearlessly took direct action to end animal abuse.
Animal Aid’s campaign to ban snares came about in an unusual – but very welcome – way, in that we were contacted by grassroots groups and individuals on the ground. They’d seen our decades-long campaign against shooting and asked if we’d help with the political side of an anti-snares campaign.
Today sees the Festival of Hounds coming to Peterborough. For decades, this event was known as Festival of Hunting but – as so often in the hunting world – language has been manipulated to hide their real intent.
About a Month Back, Sheffield Hunt Sabs and Others Caught the Northern Counties Hunt Disturbing the Peace of the Beautiful, Otter Rich River Esk. the Half Dozen Hunters High Tailed It Back to Their Vehicles As Soon As Sabs Were Spotted.
But summer sabbing hasn’t always been easy. Let’s take a look back at the history of this hunt and the wider story it tells of the decline of mink hunting.
As the summer sun blazed across the UK this June, Hunt Saboteur groups remained relentless in their pursuit to expose and combat illegal hunting and wildlife persecution. From disturbing discoveries in the countryside to courtroom appearances and political pressure, here’s a detailed round-up of what unfolded this month.
Last week, at the widely praised “Witness The End Of Hunting” launch event at the House of Commons, MPs, Peers, Ministers and representatives from several anti-hunting groups, including the HSA, heard an impassioned speech from naturalist Chris Packham as he took to the microphone to explain in real terms the importance of truly ending hunting in the United Kingdom.
Earlier today, Fitzwilliam huntsman Shaun Parish and his whipper-in Jacob Whalley appeared at Peterborough Magistrates Court charged under Section 1 of the Hunting Act with evidence supplied by Bed & Bucks Hunt Sabs.
News reaches the Hunt Saboteurs Association that two south west beagle packs have merged to form the ‘Clifton & Infantry Beagles’. The new hunt is an amalgamation of two beagle packs: the Wiltshire & Infantry Beagles (WIB), and the Chilmark & Clifton Foot Beagles (CCFB), both of which have seen increased attention from local sab groups in recent years.
This week an event was held at the Houses of Parliament in London, which was heralded as a momentous stepping stone and call to action to both MPs and the Government on the path to ending hunting for good.
About a year ago, the British Hound Sports Association announced that it would hold a ‘National Trail Hunting Day’. They promised their gullible supporters that this country-wide spectacle would “start to change minds” and go on to “dominate the news agenda.”
Warwickshire Police continue to show a blatant disregard for transparency and accountability in their dealings with the Warwickshire Hunt. Here, West Midlands Hunt Sabs explain how Warwickshire Police are bending the rules to protect the hunt.
In his latest desperate musings, Countryside Alliance CEO Tim Bonner has been visiting summer hound shows and encouraging hunts to: “… be as open about their trail hunting in November as they are at shows in June. They need to invite the public into the hunting field just as they ask them to meet hounds in the main ring.”
Which hunts does Tim imagine will be greeting the public with open arms at their Opening Meets in November?
