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Stop the Mendip Farmers Hunt from parading this Boxing Day

Murdering foxes. Killing its own hounds. Blocking badger setts. Brutal attacks on hunt saboteurs. Traumatising domestic animals. Stealing monitors’ equipment. This is the criminal Mendip Farmers Hunt (MFH). Protect the Wild and Action Against Foxhunting are contacting councils in England and Wales to ask them to ban hunts from parading on their land on Boxing […]

Tory pro-fox hunting leaders and MPs

tory leaders and dead fox

With the General Election just around the corner, it’s looking like the Tories’ time in power will be over very soon! But we mustn’t be complacent. In this article, we remind our readers how this pro-hunting party has waged a war on foxes since it came back into power in 2010. Since taking over from […]

Fox thrown to hounds – another Avon Vale Hunt member sentenced

Thomas Ledbury convicted terrierman Avon Vale Hunt

A terrierman who was working for the now disbanded Avon Vale Hunt when he ‘supervised’ a live fox being thrown to a pack of hounds in December 2020 has been sentenced. 38-year-old Thomas Ledbury pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting another to commit the offence of causing unnecessary suffering to a fox. Ledbury, who lives […]

GREAT NEWS! Yet another hunt is going…

Great news. Pendle Forest and Craven Harriers Hunt is folding

The Pendle Forest and Craven Harriers, a hare hunt covering Lancashire and North Yorkshire and based at kennels at Coniston Hall near Skipton, are disbanding. They join a long list of hunts folding as landowners and the public turn more and more against them. The Hunt made the announcement on 12 March, saying that the […]

Hunting hounds killed on A43 in ‘shocking incident’

Northants Hunt Saboteurs have received a number of reports that hounds from the Pytchley with Woodland Hunt have been killed when the hunt lost control of them. The incident took placed on 19 February on the A43 between Broughton and Sywell, Northamptonshire. The sabs posted photos on Facebook, sent to them by motorists, which show […]

Permissive path closed because of Quorn Hunt trespass

Woodside Farm in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, has closed a permissive footpath after the Quorn Hunt, along with the Cottesmore Hunt, trespassed on the farm’s land. A permissive path is a path over private land, voluntarily opened to the public by a land owner, who can withdraw access at any time (for more information see our […]

Boxing Day hunting protests near you

Avon Vale

It’s that time of year again: hunters are getting ready to block our town centres in their ridiculous attire. Their supporters will cheer at them, get drunk, and pick fights, the local police will stand by and watch, and the hunts will then head off fuelled by vanity and alcohol to terrorise foxes, hares and […]

Call for new law to protect children from the brutalities of hunting

Celebrities have joined the animal rights charity PETA to call on the government to protect children from hunting. PETA has launched an online petition, urging the Sunak government to introduce new legislation. The charity says: “The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has published General Comment No 26 which recommends that children be […]

Hunting hounds run rampage in Devon

The Dartmoor Hunt has run rampage, its hounds terrorising animals of Farm & Feral Animal Sanctuary in south Devon. This is, once again, a reminder that the Hunting Act needs replacing with stronger legislation which shuts down fox hunting for good. The sanctuary’s Missy Freeman-Davies reported that the hounds caused havoc as they tore through […]

Hunt sabs say huntsman sacked for ‘beating a hound almost to death’

Hunt saboteurs have announced that huntsman Guy Fitzearle has been sacked from the Kimblewick Hunt. East Herts Sabs wrote that he beat a hound “almost to death”. They said: “Well the truth is out. The hound wasn’t doing as it was told so he grabbed it by the tail, beat it around the head until […]

Yet another pet is seriously injured by hunting hounds

Pack of foxhounds hounds on the road. The legs of horses can also be seen.

Essex and Suffolk Hunt hounds mauled a pet dog in Layham, Suffolk, on 15 August. The hounds were being exercised when the attack happened. Local news outlet, Hadleigh Nub News, reported that the labradoodle dog needed treatment from a vet, and that “the elderly dog walker was left shocked and upset by the incident.” Terrorised […]

Cottesmore Hunt rider who kicked and punched horse due to stand trial

Disgraced hunter and ex-primary school teacher Sarah Moulds is due to stand trial on 22 August 2023. She was filmed hitting and kicking a horse, and is charged with two offences under the Animal Welfare Act. Moulds was a field rider with the Cottesmore Hunt on 6 November 2021. Her horse, Bruce, wandered a few […]

Avon Vale Hunt finally charged after digging out foxes

Avon Vale dig out

Three members of the Avon Vale Hunt have been charged and will appear in court in July. Footage, which shows the men digging out two foxes and throwing one to hounds, sparked national outrage when it was aired in February. Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs announced on Facebook: “Whipper-in Aaron Fookes charged under Animal Welfare Act and […]

Hunt sabs publish ‘unique’ footage of stag hunted to exhaustion

Stag killed by the Quantock Staghounds

Hunt saboteurs published footage of a stag that was so exhausted he laid down and allowed a human to sit next to him. The Quantock Staghounds had hunted the stag for several hours through the day. And this “unique” footage reveals the brutality of stag and deer hunting. On 17 April, North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs […]

BREAKING: Hunt’s governing body permanently expels the Avon Vale Hunt

Avon Vale

The British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) has permanently expelled the Avon Vale Hunt. The body had previously suspended the hunt after gruesome footage showed hunt members digging out two foxes. Hunt sabs say that this is “the end of the Avon Vale as they exist.” The video, which was leaked and published by the Hunt […]

Hunt master caught on camera ‘thrashing’ a hound with his whip

George Pullen and huntsman's whip

Mendip Hunt Saboteurs published video that showing a hunt master that “thrashed” a hound with a whip. And it’s a cruel reminder of how much care and respect some hunts show the animals they’re supposed to care for and respect. The group said the master in question was George Pullen, a master of the Mendip […]

Lewis Hamilton-fronting car company sponsoring fundraisers for hunts

Car manufacturer INEOS Automotive is sponsoring point-to-point horse races to show its support for the “countryside community”. The catch? They are organised by and raise money for criminal hunting. INEOS Automotive started its partnership with the Point-to-Point Authority in November 2021. The promotional material at the time said the car manufacturer was sponsoring the Mixed […]

Sheep drowns as Grafton Hunt hounds run rampage

domestic sheep

Police are investigating the Grafton Hunt after a sheep drowned when hounds ran out of control in a farmer’s field. The ewes, who were all pregnant, scattered, breaking out of their field, and some fled into a river to escape. The incident took place on 14 January. Grafton Hunt Watch, which monitors the hunt, said: […]

Hunting hounds rampage through animal park

Mendip Farmers Hunt trespasses into zoo

On Saturday 14 January, hounds from the Mendip Farmers Hunt (MFH) caused havoc as they tore through Chew Valley Animal Park. And yet the MFH continues to insist that it hunts legally. Protect the Wild spoke to Mendip Hunt Sabs, who were on the ground that day. The sabs said: “Hounds from the Mendip Farmers […]

Just how much is Jacob Rees-Mogg complicit in illegal hunting?

Jacob Rees-Mogg

Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg is renowned for his pro-hunting views, believing that it’s perfectly humane for hounds to tear up foxes. Time and time again, his family has shown its support for criminal fox hunters, riding with the Mendip Farmers Hunt (MFH), hosting its meets, attending its balls, and – in the case of Rees-Mogg’s […]

VICTORY! Hunting dying out as more hunts forced to merge

As 2022 draws to a close, there’s news that two more hunts are amalgamating. The Puckeridge is merging with the Essex with Farmers and Union for the 2023/2024 season, becoming the new Puckeridge and Essex Union Hunt. This is yet another indication that the hunting industry is struggling. Both hunts have had their own scandals […]

Another public landowner has just wised up to hunting’s criminal activities

Badger at the entrance to a sett

North Yorkshire Moors National Park Authority (NYMNPA) recently announced that hunts are no longer welcome on Levisham Estate. The move comes after hunt saboteurs caught terriermen digging out a badger sett on the property. East Yorkshire Coast Hunt Sabs said on 4 December that NYMNPA had decided to “not… allow hunting to resume on the […]

Tiverton Staghounds dogs savage and kill pregnant alpaca

A pregnant alpaca named Ruby was attacked and killed by dogs from the Tiverton Staghounds on New Year’s Day. Her guardians, Lucy Aylett and Nick Stringer, said that the hunt had not informed them that they would be hunting that day, and that the hounds were clearly out of control. Lucy told DevonLive: “She was […]

Who’s got the ‘begging bowl’ out now?

Two recent incidents point to a yawning void in the world of hunting. First, fintech company SumUp put hunting on its shit list, meaning hunts can no longer use it as a transaction method. Second, the British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) published a video pleading for new members. Together, they expose the hunting industry’s financial […]

BREAKING: Three arrested after fox killed in residential garden

west norfolk terrierman

Norfolk Police has announced that it has arrested three members of the West Norfolk Foxhounds after a fox was brutally murdered by hounds in a family’s garden. Two of the men have been arrested on suspicion of hunting wild mammals with dogs, criminal damage and having a dog dangerously out of control. The third man […]

Footage shows hounds out of control as fox is torn apart in garden

West Norfolk Hounds tear up fox in garden

Week in, week out, news comes in of hunting hounds that are completely out of control. And now a family in Norfolk has shared footage of the moment when the West Norfolk Foxhounds’ dogs ran into their garden, cornered a fox, then tore up the poor creature on the patio. The incident, which took place […]

What happens to hounds from previous seasons?

What happens to hounds from previous seasons? Lamping is a loose term that covers a number of different activities. However, they all take place at night and they all result in the murder of wildlife in the British countryside. By the start of the autumn a new hunting season is just weeks away, and with […]

Dogs and the Law

Dogs and the Law We love dogs here at Protect the Wild, but through no fault of their own they are widely used by hunters, shooters, and wildlife criminals like badger baiters and hare coursers to fight, chase, retrieve, or kill wild animals. That means that we may well come across dogs (or packs of […]