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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.
Finally, March marked the anniversary of the death of Hunt Saboteur and a long-time campaigner for social justice, Anna Campbell, who selflessly gave her life defending the Rojava revolution. Fighting alongside the YPJ, a feminist all woman army established by the Kurds in Northern Syria which helped defeat Isis, Anna was killed in Afrin by Turkish air strikes on Kobane.
Senior Herefordshire & Clifton Hunt master, Rob Parsons, has admitted riding a horse at a member of Herefordshire Hunt Sabs at the hunt’s opening meet in November 2024. The incident was captured on both handheld and body worn cameras and led to Parsons admitting the offence, under Section Section 4 Public Order Act, a conditional caution was imposed. Parsons will attend a three hour victim awareness course at a cost of £60 paid by him.
Herefordshire Hunt Sabs joined up with Bristol Hunt Saboteurs and Severn Vale Hunt Saboteurs to target the closing meets of two Gloucestershire hare hunts. The first target was the Royal Agricultural College Beagles, the hunt of the Royal Agricultural University who continue to enable this Organised Crime Group, notably by hosting their end of season dinner at the university. The kennels are on land owned by, and all the hunt masters are students of, the university. The hunt soon headed back to the meet at William Vestey, 4th Baron Vestey’s Stowell Park estate. The three sab groups then headed over to the Dummer Beagles final meet of the season where over 120 supporters had gathered for Steve Duckmanton’s last day as huntsman after 40 years of hare killing. Once sabs arrived it wasn’t long before the support began heading for their vehicles and By 2pm it was all over, the hound van left for the kennels.
Herefordshire Sabs headed down to join North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs at the Devon & Somerset Staghounds where after killing a stag, the body was butchered in front of spectators and handed out trophies such organs, teeth, antlers and feet. The remains were then thrown to the dogs as a reward, to the fanfare of the horn call for a kill.
North Dorset Hunt Sabs were joined by Mendip Hunt Sabs and Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs at a meet of the Quantock Stag Hounds at Dead Woman’s Ditch. Two stags escaped but another was killed. The stag was exhausted, and after a final run from the quarry, he collapsed and was shot where he lay in a field near Smokeham Farm. Sabs at the kill site were subjected to serious aggression from hunt followers as they filmed the gruesome scene. One excuse the hunters like to proclaim for their awful behaviour is bTB testing, which is laughable given their biosecurity measures involve chasing an animal cross country for miles, dragging the corpse around, and trailing fresh blood all over a cow field.
Back at the Devon & Somerset Staghounds, North Dorset joined by Herefordshire sabs, Staffordshire Hunt Sabs and West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs ensured there were no kills despite a stag being chased across the hills in very warm conditions for a couple of hours.
Jacob Rees-Mogg hosted the Mendip Farmers Hunt meet at his West Harptree mansion. This gang of violent criminal thugs are relentless illegal fox hunters, which sabs from Mendip Hunt Sabs, Somerset Sabs and North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs witnessed throughout the meet. Sabs had to intervene to stop the hounds as they hunted the line of a fox that had run from White Hill. New Great Celebrity Bake Off judge Caroline Waldegrave OBE allowed the Mendip Farmers Hunt to relentlessly hunt a fox across her vast estate in Chewton Mendip.
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 to decide on their future and vote on an amalgamation.
At the Stevenstone Hunt meet near Milton Damerel huntsman Anthony Hemmings alongside his girlfriend Lydia Peers launched an unprovoked attack on members of Devon County Hunt Sabs with Ben Vincent joining the attack halfway through. Devon County Hunt Saboteurs along with Plymouth & West Devon Hunt Sabs also witnessed a fox being killed at a joint meet of the Spooners & West Dartmoor Hunt / Mid Devon Hunt. After the hounds had finished tearing the poor animal to shreds, riders rushed in to attempt to hide the body, with one field rider jumping off their horse, and riding up over a nearby hill to dispose of it. Sabs were unable to get to the fox and help it without turning the fox back towards the hounds. But this is exactly what the terriermen chose to do and deliberately pushed the fox back into the jaws of the pack.
Salisbury Plain Hunt Sabs reported that no new licenses will be granted for hunting on MOD land for the foreseeable future, a massive relief for the wildlife on the Salisbury Plain.
The final meet of the season for the Grove & Rufford at Hodsock Cottage Farm quickly descended into violence. A hunt master immediately assaulted one sab with his whip, then gloated on camera about it. Lurking thugs threw rocks and made threats against sab foot teams who determinedly followed hounds. Sheffield Hunt Saboteurs were able to stay on the scent throughout despite constant hunt intimidation. The windscreen of one vehicle being smashed in a drive-by bricking by masked up hunt supporters on a quad bike. Lincoln Hunt Saboteurs and Nottingham Hunt Saboteurs arrived later on and the combined team of sabs had the upper hand for the rest of the day. After hunting till sunset, the huntsman headed back to the meet along a bridleway crossing the A60 near Langold. As the hunt blocked traffic in both directions, a trap was sprung as masked up hunt thugs attacked Lincoln and Notts vehicles with bricks and a fire extinguisher before making their escape at high speed through a residential area. Undeterred, sabs walked into the meet to check the hounds were boxed up and headed for home.
West Midlands Hunt Sabs joined up with Three Counties Hunt Sabs for the Croome & West Warwickshire Hunts final meet in Throckmorton. After the hounds were put into a barn at Middle Buildings, owned by former hunt director Edward Righton, West Mids quickly launched their drone and once it was up realised that the hounds had already killed next to one of the farm buildings. The body was quickly taken away out of view behind another building.
Another kill witnessed at a West Mids / Three Counties joint sab last year at the Warwickshire Hunt ended up in court where Warwickshire Hunt member Ben Halsall was found guilty of hunting a wild mammal. The conviction was based on video footage and evidence of a member of Three Counties Hunt Sabs.
West Midlands Hunt Sabs and Staffordshire Hunt Sabs have travelled south to hit the Devon & Somerset Staghounds with comrades in the west.
The DeBurgh & North Essex Bassets have continued to be relentlessly hit by many groups based in the east including SES – Suffolk & Essex Hunt Sabs, Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs, Norwich Hunt Saboteurs and South Norfolk Hunt Saboteurs.
Toby Fleming of Eastgate Farm, Marham estate, has now been formally charged with Common Assault after his unprovoked assault on a lone female Sab from Norfolk/Suffolk Hunt Saboteurs who was monitoring the West Norfolk Foxhounds meet there in January.
East Northants Hunt Saboteurs had two members of the group assaulted and injured by the Cambridgeshire Hunt with Enfield Chace at Hatfield House who were then subsequently arrested by police on the grounds of aggravated trespass which will be rigorously defended!
Following Beds & Bucks Hunt Sabs successful campaign to shut down the Oakley Hunt, they confirmed that the Cambridge with Enfield Chace are to move into the old Oakley kennels in north Bedfordshire.
The Wight Hunt Sabs hit the final meet of the Isle of Wight Foxhounds at Kingston Hall and then held a wake for a much loved and sadly departed member of the group, Annie, who passed away in January.
Glasgow Hunt Sabs attended a meet of the Dumfriesshire & Stewartry (D&S) Foxhounds near the village of Thornhill, marking the first visit from sabs since the hunt’s formation in 2006. The hunt, which replaced the Dumfriesshire Hunt after it disbanded in 2001, has largely managed to avoid attention from sabs due to its secretive nature and a focus on other hunts. The hunt soon resorted to violence after being asked why a quad rider was riding illegally with no number plates, one passenger lashed out and punched a sab in the face. The altercation forced the hunt to reconsider their actions, and after just 90 minutes, they returned to the meet and packed up. A 64-year-old man has since been arrested and charged with assault following the attack.
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