Two years ago we launched The Protect the Wild Equipment Fund aiming to provide equipment to individuals or groups who are working as ‘eyes in the field’ to tackle wildlife crime and protect wildlife.
Our first purchase was radios for the wonderful Cheshire Borderland Monitors, who wrote in a blog for us that the radios would enable them to stay in touch with each other on the ground, monitoring hunts, and ultimately protecting the wild.
Since then we have sent thousands of pounds worth of equipment to many groups. Everything from radios and camcorders to bodycams and drones.
One of the groups we have supported before and are happy to support again is the Geordie Hunt Saboteurs (GHS) who “are here to save animals.” They regularly sab the Consett-based Braes of Derwent who just this month were “observed and filmed actively chasing and hunting the hounds onto a fox”.
GHS contacted us to explain that the group was growing and would we supply two more bodycams. We are convinced that bodycams are one of the most important pieces of protective kit we give out to people protecting animals, so of course we said yes…
We’ve written before about the Geordies’ brilliant Facebook HIT reports. If you’ve not checked them out, do have a read! GHS also gave an interview to Alikivi last year, and one paragraph in particular has always stuck with us:
“Massive thanks to everyone who has supported us so far – whether in the field or just cheered us on – we see you. But now is the time to get involved. Whether you’re a seasoned sab or brand new to the scene there’s a role for you in the Geordie Hunt Saboteurs. Essentially, we‘re looking for people to stand up, speak out and save wildlife”.
Great words. We have illegal hunting on the run. The pressure is working. Hunts are dispirited and folding. We can end this animal abuse, and there is indeed a role for everyone, from out in the field to campaigning from home. And when we can persuade the government to get on with banning so-called ‘trail hunting’ as they promised, it will be job done and organised crime gangs on horseback will be a thing of the past…and like GHS we can ALL say we were here to save animals!
We are proud that we’ve been able to help the Geordie Hunt Saboteurs through our Equipment Fund.
We are proud – but also hugely grateful to our supporters. Because it is YOU that enable us to help these brave folk.
Your contributions go directly into protecting wildlife by supporting activists in the field in multiple ways. It not only pays for the equipment that keep eyes on hunts and other wildlife abusers, it funds undercover operations that expose cruelty hidden from the public, AND it ensures frontline activists have access to free mental health support so they can keep going in what is often a relentless and emotionally draining fight (please see ‘Over a hundred mental health sessions given to animal rights activists!’).
Every single pound is ringfenced and used for this work alone. It fuels the people and the tools that make a real difference for foxes, badgers, birds and all the other wildlife targeted by abusers.
If you want to be part of this fight, please chip in a few pounds each month. Together we can give activists the strength, the resources and the support they need to protect wildlife and hold these cowards to account.