Terrierman Takedown At The Cottesmore Hunt!

In a major victory for Northants Hunt Sabs, the notorious Cottesmore Hunt – recently the subject of a live broadcast by Chris Packham – have had their terriers seized by Leicestershire Rural Crime Team.

Tuesday 4th February saw Northants sabs in action as the hunt met at the home of hunt master Alice Robb. A standard sabbing day ensued with hounds getting dangerously close to a live railway line and masked terriermen attempting – and failing – to intimidate sabs.

However, things took to a turn for the unusual when sabs spotted a Leicestershire RCT vehicle racing in the direction of the hunt. Sabs followed and were met by the astonishing sight of the very same terriermen being questioned and searched by the police!

The quad bike was emptied of its sordid contents – terrier location collars, a captive-bolt gun and a pistol in its holster. These items were seized, along with two terriers who were lifted from the quad’s rear metal box. A police sergeant checked the dogs over for injuries and they were scanned for microchips – with only one found to be chipped. The terriermen were told that the dogs would be seized and taken to police kennels for rehoming.

This spectacle was also witnessed by furious Cottesmore Hunt personnel, including entitled Chairman Nick Leeming – whose wittering protests were roundly ignored by the police – and Master Alice Robb, who helpfully admitted to being the owner of the quad bike and one of the terriers.

Whilst the terriermen were not placed under arrest they were told to expect letters through the post and an investigation will proceed into allegations of illegal hunting. With the quad bike seized, the masked terriermen left the scene in Alice Robb’s car just as the heavens opened – rounding off a truly dismal day for the Cottesmore Hunt.

An HSA spokesperson commented,

“We warmly welcome the action of Leicestershire RCT in seizing these poor hunt terriers but point out that this kind of decisive police action should have been taking place at hunts across the country twenty years ago, when the Hunting Act came into force.

The presence of terriermen at the Cottesmore Hunt also brings into sharp relief the incompetence and dishonesty of hunting’s so-called governing body, the British Hound Sports Association. In 2022, the BHSA issued an edict stating that its member hunts should not have terriers in the vicinity of ‘trail hunts’. Needless to say, we see this edict being ignored week in, week out up and down the country – the BHSA is nothing but a bad joke.”

Northants Hunt Sabs have been campaigning against the Cottesmore Hunt for six years – please support them here: ko-fi.com/northantshuntsabs