Since 1963 the Hunt Saboteurs Association have been at the forefront of the anti-hunting movement. Here are some important dates in our history.
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1965
The first serious instances of anti-saboteur violence occurred during 1965. In February, three members of the Bournemouth group were attacked with an axe and a starting handle by thugs from the Sparkford Vale. Although a hunt supporter was fined £15 for breaking a saboteur’s guitar with the axe (!); eight sabs were fined £10 each […]
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1988
1988 – Fell Week. Sabs targeted the six foot packs who hunt the fells of the Lake District. The packs – the Blencathra, Coniston, Eskdale and Ennerdale, Lonsdale, Melbreak and Ullswater Foxhounds prioritise killing foxes. At the end of March 1988 Sabs from all over the country gathered in Cumbria to try to stop them.
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1993
Death of Tom Worby, a 15 year old. On Saturday 3rd April 1993, Tom and his girlfriend joined up with sabs at the closing meet of the Cambridgeshire Foxhounds near Cambridgeshire. The driver of the hound van, Huntsman Alan Ball, deliberately drove into Tom. Tom died at the scene. Ball was never charged.
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1999
December 1999. The Home Secretary Jack Straw announces a Government inquiry into hunting with dogs, to be chaired by Lord Burns, the ‘Burns Enquiry’. To inquire into: “the practical aspects of different types of hunting with dogs and its impact on the rural economy, agriculture and pest control, the social and cultural life of the […]
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2014
In 2014 Hunt Sab ‘Nid’ was ridden down by huntsman Mark Doggrell of the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Fox Hunt during an evening cubbing meet. She was left with 7 broken ribs. An ambulance was immediately called but was stopped from reaching the casualty by hunt vehicles who deliberately blocked the road. An air ambulance […]
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2018
April 2018 Fitzwilliam Huntsman George Adams was found guilty under Section 1 of the Hunting Act for killing a fox on New Years Day 2016. This was the first conviction of a hunt using the Falconry Exemption. Video evidence and witness statement was provided by Beds and Bucks Hunt Sabs and a witness statement from […]
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2019
After six long years of an unrelenting and unstoppable campaign by West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs the 200 year old Atherstone Hunt finally threw in the towel and folded in October 2019. The North Warwickshire Beagles had also received the attention of West Midlands Sabs and shut down in the same month.
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2021
Master of Foxhounds Association (MFHA) director Mark Hankinson was found guilty on 15th October 2021 of encouraging others to break the Hunting Act. This followed a HSA expose of online webinars run by the Hunting Office in August 2020. The webinars evidenced a nationwide conspiracy by hunters to flout the 2005 hunting ban.
