The latest hare hunting pack to emerge in the UK is the Dorset and Somerset Bassets. This hunt, which routinely breaks the law as it terrorises hares, is owned by famous racehorse trainer Colin Tizzard.
Tizzard was a horse trainer from 1995 til 2022. Starting out as a dairy farmer, Tizzard’s Venn Farm then became a successful professional horse stable. Tizzard continued to keep dairy cows until 2018, then switched to beef farming in 2019. It is, therefore, unsurprising that someone whose career has been built on the exploitation of cows and horses (approximately 200 horses die when racing each year in Britain) might get kicks out of killing hares.
Dorset Hunt Monitors describe Tizzard as a “Blackmore and Sparkford Vale diehard”. Indeed, the horse trainer was director of the BSV, one of the most notorious fox hunting packs in England, from 2004 to 2021.
Bassets
Hare hunting ‘season’ began in earnest in October. Lesser well-known than fox hunting, it is no less horrific. Not to be confused with coursing, hare hunting involves the use of scent hounds – usually beagles but sometimes bassets and harriers – to chase the hare. Beagles and bassets are hunted on foot, while harriers use horses. Protect the Wild’s Glen Black wrote of basset packs:
“their smaller stature and shorter legs mean a basset pack hunt is even slower than beagling. For the people that enjoy this pursuit, the slow speed of bassets provides greater opportunities to watch the ‘hound work’.”
Like fox hunting, hare hunting with dogs is illegal under the Hunting Act. If caught, hunts will say that they are trail hunting, or that they are “rabbiting”, i.e. chasing rabbits, which are considered pests under law and are not protected by any legislation. Tizzard must also be aware that hare hunting on a Sunday is illegal under the Game Act, which defines Brown Hares as ‘game’.
Dorset and Somerset Bassets
North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs describes Tizzard’s Dorset and Somerset Bassets as “a seedy unregistered pack”. The group, along with their friends at Dorset Hunt Monitors, has caught the hounds blatantly hunting hares last season this season too.
Protect the Wild spoke to Dorset Hunt Monitors, who told us that they have spotted regular BSV followers with the hare hunt. The monitors told us:
“On Sunday 29 October 2023 we attended a meet of the Bassets at Toomers Farm near Henstridge, Somerset. We found the hounds hunting a hare near the A30 and our presence was met with a hail of threats and abuse from the supporters, so we called the police, who attended. The police were told by the hunt that they were trail hunting and without any proof to the contrary the police left and the hunt carried on.”
“During the summer we gathered more information about those behind the pack which was now promoting itself as the Dorset & Somerset Bassets and fundraising via events hosted by the extended Tizzard Family. We identified the huntsman as Charlie Ford who’s from another BSV hunting family…we believe the hounds are kennelled at the BSV premises.”
‘Arrogance’
Fast-forward to this hunting season, on 13 October 2024 – which was also a Sunday and therefore illegal under the Game Act – North Dorset Sabs posted a video on Facebook, showing the hounds chasing a terrified hare across a field. They wrote:
“The huntsman was right there when the dogs made chase. Excited supporters joined in the pursuit, while others claimed they were rabbit hunting. There was nothing we could do to stop them and sadly they could be heard in cry for some time out of sight in the distance. We really hope the hare managed to escape.”
Dorset Hunt Monitors told us:
“When challenged, huntsman Ford and Tizzard now claim to be hunting rabbits…which is clearly rubbish because you don’t need twenty bassets to hunt a rabbit which is going to disappear down the first hole it finds. It’s the level of arrogance that these people display whereby they think coming up with ludicrous excuses like this is believable…but frankly they don’t care anymore.”
The government needs to step up
The monitors stressed to Protect the Wild that until the Hunting Act is changed, Tizzard and his friends will continue to get away with murder with very little consequences. They told us:
“Unfortunately Dorset and Somerset Beagles seem to be using the same logic as the BSV, playing the percentages and relying on the fact that there’s a slim chance of us gathering enough evidence of them illegally hunting to get the case over the CPS threshold – so for them, it’s worth the risk. If they get unlucky…then it’s a day in court and a £1,000 fine. Dorset Hunt Monitors and North Dorset Hunt Sabs do what we can to stop them and to gather the evidence to get them in to court, but until this government steps up to the plate and delivers meaningful changes to the Hunting Act then we just have to endure the abuse and the threats and do our best.”
“The only thing that will act as a deterrent for people like Tizzard and Charlie Ford is to face the prospect, if convicted, of being barred from working with hounds ever again. If court appearances and fines don’t work then maybe the thought of depriving them of their passion for hunting and/or their livelihoods will.”
The Labour government stated in its manifesto that it will strengthen the Hunting Act and ban trail hunting. Protect the Wild stands with hunt sabs and monitors to demand that politicians need to go further, close ALL loopholes in the Act and ensure that there are no exceptions that make it permissible to hunt with dogs. Dorset Hunt Monitors makes an essential point – that hunters will not be deterred unless they face greater consequences, including being barred from working with hounds. It’s now time that Labour finally steps up and actually delivers a proper ban on hunting once and for all.
- Dorset Hunt Monitors rely on public support to protect wildlife. All donations, no matter how what amount, are gratefully appreciated. Donate here.
- Photos by North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs, who are also on the ground, sabbing Tizzard’s bassets. Donate to the sabs here.
