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March 2025 Review: Seasons & Sabs Keep Rolling
15/04/2025
A summary of events over the last month. March saw the fox and hare hunting season coming to an end for many hunts across the country. Many of our groups faced violence and witnessed kills right up till the final meets. Unfortunately the spring hunting of stags is in full swing and some groups have headed south to help sab this abhorrence and the mink hunters are now preparing to wage war on the wildlife inhabiting our streams and rivers.
North Cotswold Huntsman Oliver Dale Charged With A Trio Of Illegal Hunting Incidents
14/04/2025
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.
‘Sadistic’ Fox Hunter Escapes Real Justice
14/04/2025
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.
Another Four Fox Hunters Found Guilty Of Illegal Hunting!
10/04/2025
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.
Stag Hunting: The Shame Of The West Country
09/04/2025
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.
Pole Position: Derbyshire Hunt Leads the Way in Cruelty and Criminality
07/04/2025
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.
Cruelty And Carve-ups: The Horror Of Spring Stag Hunting
31/03/2025
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.
The Fells Have Eyes: Hunt Sabbing in the Lake District
26/03/2025
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….
Shrinking Support Forces Somerset Hunts to Merge…again!
24/03/2025
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.
Sabs Eye In The Sky Captures Croome & West Warwickshire Kill
21/03/2025
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 Guilty of Illegal Fox Hunting!
18/03/2025
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.
The Spycops Scandal – Police Spies Out of Lives!
17/03/2025
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.
Veg Of Darkness: A Smashing Time At The Grove & Rufford
14/03/2025
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.
Dumb Dumfries Hunt Score End Of Season Own Goal
13/03/2025
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.
Why Was A Serial Wildlife Criminal Allowed To Strike Again?
12/03/2025
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.