Listing the businesses that enable the Wynnstay Hunt
Based near Wrexham, the Wynnstay Hunt is one of the UK’s most lawbreaking hunts, regularly chasing and killing foxes. Many of its members and supporters have faced legal action, and the hunt is renowned for the violence of its staff and supporters towards monitors and sabs. Yet this notorious hunt is going out hunting several […]
Mark Tiffin, man behind ‘Rose’ crowdfunder, is notorious badger baiter and terrierman
A recent GoFundMe crowdfunder to rescue a little dog called Rose captured the hearts of the public. Within hours, people had donated to save Rose, who was stuck 26ft inside a cliff. The current amount raised stands at a whopping £17,564. But the beneficiary of this money is a man called Mark Tiffin – a […]
Hypocrite: Prince William issues ‘urgent call’ to ‘make peace with nature’
The Royals are one of the UK’s most wealthy and well-known shooting families. And so new calls from Prince William to “make peace with nature” stink of hypocrisy. The mainstream media has reported William’s plea – made in a video message played at the General Assembly of the United Nations – without any hint of […]
Bloodbusiness now with MAPPING
Back in July, Protect the Wild launched a new website, bloodbusiness.info “a community-driven, fully searchable website that helps pro-wildlife people like ourselves choose where we spend our money based on our personal preferences.” What we’ve been creating since then is essentially a list of businesses that support in some way the ‘bloodbusiness’ industries of hunting […]
‘New’ badger cull policy: still not good for badgers
On 30 August, Defra announced “Government to end badger cull with new TB eradication strategy”. It was, they said, the “first Bovine TB strategy in a decade to end the badger cull and drive down TB rates to protect farmers’ livelihood.” This announcement came less than two months after Labour was elected. They had promised […]
Nothing glorious about the ‘Inglorious 12th’
The 12th of August (the ‘Inglorious 12th’) marks the start of a key ‘season’ for the shooting industry. Over the next 121 days that industry will aim to sell hundreds of thousands of Red Grouse to shooters to kill.
We’ve launched bloodbusiness.info
On Saturday 27 July we launched a new website bloodbusiness.info – but what is it and what is it designed to do? In a nutshell, bloodbusiness.info is a secure list (or database) of businesses that in one way or another support the ‘blood businesses’ of hunting with dogs and the shooting of birds and mammals […]
See you at Action for Wildlife Day!
Protect the Wild is heading to the Peak District! On August 10th – just two days before the Inglorious 12th and the start of the grouse-killing season – both Rob and Charlie will be at Carsington Water in Derbyshire for an Action for Wildlife Day. Organised by Hen Harrier Action, the event is being held […]
Unreal: Fox-killing Rees-Moggs to star in reality TV show
Discovery+ has announced that it has made a five-part series about stuffy former Tory MP Rees-Mogg, his wife Helena and their six children. It will, unfortunately, air later this year, and you can bet that ratings will be low – a pattern established by Rees-Mogg’s ‘work’ as a condescending anchor on GB News, a heavily […]
Adorable videos of badgers YOU helped save
Last year, Protect the Wild readers helped an East Sussex community to save badgers whose home was at threat from property developers. We’ve revisited the residents to see how the badgers are doing. And it’s great news: they are thriving! For four and a half years, the community was trying to buy a plot – […]
The Secret Monitor: Linhope Estate, Northumberland
Damaging stories from inside hunting and shooting have been circulating for years. Both industries present a public face that aims to convince politicians and the public alike that everything they do is lawful or ‘sustainable’. The truth is very different, and much of what takes place is out sight. Supporters, clients and even the police […]
GRAPHIC IMAGES: Stink Pits – as disgusting as they sound
Anyone who comes across one of the shooting industry’s ‘hidden secrets’ will know immediately how stink pits got their name. Also known as middens, stink pits are ‘built’ by gamekeepers on shooting estates. They are pits or piles of dumped rotting mammal and bird carcasses which literally ‘stink’ and are used as bait to lure […]
Rishi Sunak: it’s time to go!
Ahead of a worsening economic outlook and with his personal popularity at a historic low, on May 22nd Rishi Sunak decided ‘enough was enough’ and called a General Election. It was certainly about time. Even without his self-sabotaging gaffes this week – including of course his spectacular lack of respect for the thousands who died […]
SIGN THE PETITION: Drop The Newt from the Chelsea Flower Show
The world famous Chelsea Flower Show, organised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), is running between 21 and 25 May. Its headline sponsor is luxury hotel The Newt – a business that supports hunting. Protect the Wild is asking our readers to sign a petition, calling on the RHS to cut its association with the […]
Yorkshire Dales: new report proves it’s a raptor persecution hot spot
The Yorkshire Dales Bird of Prey ‘Partnership’ (YDBPP) recently published a ‘Bird of Prey Evidence Report’ which supposedly documents the status of raptors in the ‘national park’ and provides details of confirmed illegal persecution between 2022-2023. England’s ‘national parks’ are notorious persecution hotspots, so any truly independent analysis should slam the management of the grouse […]
The Gentleman’s Vinnie Jones: it’s all an act for this keen shooter
Netflix’s The Gentlemen is currently ranking in the streaming service’s Top 10 most-watched TV shows. Footballer-turned-actor Vinnie Jones has a starring role as an animal-loving gamekeeper of a wealthy 15,000 acre estate. But in real life, Jones is infamous for killing wildlife. Crows, pigeons, rabbits, foxes, boar: you name them, Jones has shot them all. And he’s bragged about it too.
VOTE May 2: Elections for Police and Crime Commissioners
Elections for England and Wales’ Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) take place on 2 May. Whoever gets in could have a major impact on wildlife. Whether we vote for our preferred candidate or vote tactically, it is essential that we all get out to vote. While the turnout for the PCC election is not as low […]
Is the Chepstow Show inviting hunts again?
It looked for a while that organisers of the Chepstow Show – keen to avoid a repeat of the tricky questions they received last year about Hunts parading in the ‘Main Ring’ – had come up with a cunning plan. Leaked minutes from a planning committee meeting in February suggested that they would invite the […]
Illegal to cut a hedge in Spring? Yes – and no…
Despite what the weather outside might suggest (it’s cool and wet across the UK as of writing), wild birds – in an admirable show of resilience – will soon be breeding again. This is the start of a critical time of the year when birds are looking for safe places to nest and to rebuild […]
The hypocrisy of the XL Bully ban
Since 31 December 2023, it has been illegal in the UK to own, breed, abandon or give away an American Bully XL dog. The dogs must now be kept on a lead and muzzled in public. According to Bully Watch, the dog has caused 11 known human deaths, and three suspected deaths since 2021. The […]
Ten reasons why 2023 was a good year for wildlife
For those of us who love wildlife, it is easy to fall into despair when we read reports of foxes being killed and birds of prey being poisoned. Many of us will need a reminder that positive events happened in 2023! As the year comes to a close, we give ten reasons why this was […]
Inside Protect the Wild: why did we create Protectors of the Wild?
Many organisations – from wildlife charities to the police – ask us to ‘report wildlife crime’ when we see it taking place. The idea is that all of us can become ‘eyes in the field’, watching for crime or illegal persecution and helping stop it. It’s a simple and potentially very empowering concept. The problem […]
Protecting the Wild Equipment Fund #13: Radios for Roaming Sabs
The Protecting the Wild Equipment Fund was set up in Summer 2023 to help put ‘eyes in the field‘ and ‘eyes in the sky’, supporting and empowering people to protect British wildlife. We use the fund to provide equipment like body cams, trail cams, night vision kit, and video cameras to monitors and activists working […]
The Secret Monitor: Without fear or favour?
Damaging stories from inside hunting, shooting, and the badger cull have been circulating for years. Everything from breaking the law to assaults or harassment of monitors and the public and a police force seemingly happy to ‘look the other way’. But there is always someone watching, always someone listening. The Secret Monitor. In their latest […]
Unelected Defra ministers won’t protect wildlife
Is our government fit to protect wildlife? We take a look at two men with key ministerial roles in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra): Richard Benyon (on the left in the image above) and Robbie Douglas-Miller (on the right). Defra has a number of tasks, perhaps the most important one being […]
Protecting the Wild Equipment Fund: Ren’s Wildlife Hospital
As Protect the Wild’s CEO Rob Pownall explained in a recent post (see “Can you help us build something incredible to protect wildlife?“), “We give a platform and a voice for monitors, saboteurs, anyone out in the field protecting the wild, and we channel every penny we receive from paid subscriptions on Substack to these […]
Why Protect the Wild doesn’t support licencing of the shooting industry.
Staggering levels of raptor persecution (the illegal persecution of birds of prey) have been in the news again following both the release of the RSPB’s Birdcrime report for 2022 and the Scottish Parliament voting on November 30th to support the general principles of the Wildlife Management & Muirburn Bill. The Bill includes measures to introduce […]
The Secret Monitor: Partners in crime – who’s enabling the cruelty of stag hunting?
Damaging stories from inside hunting, shooting, and the badger cull have been circulating for years. Everything from breaking the law to assaults or harassment of monitors and the public and a police force seemingly happy to ‘look the other way’. But there is always someone watching, always someone listening. The Secret Monitor. In the sixth […]
The Secret Monitor: Curre and Llangibby Hunt and their sweary supporters
Damaging stories from inside hunting, shooting, and the badger cull have been circulating for years. Everything from breaking the law to assaults or harassment of monitors and the public and a police force seemingly happy to ‘look the other way’. But there is always someone watching, always someone listening. The Secret Monitor. In this post […]
DEER HUNTING: Has the British Deer Society landed a death blow?
Quietly, and without any fanfare, the British Deer Society (BDS), a charity ‘dedicated to building a strong future for wild deer in the UK’, has (belatedly, it could be strongly argued) published a Position Statement on Hunting Deer with Hounds. In it the BDS states, “The BDS is unable to justify the deliberate pursuit of […]
The Secret Monitor: Stag hunting not cruel enough? There’s always hind hunting…
[PLEASE NOTE we have included a short video clip in this post. It shows a running deer and hounds but it is NOT graphic and the hind is not caught. It is used solely as an example of the Quantock Stag Hounds breaking the Hunting Act 2004 by using more than two dogs to chase […]
Equipment Fund #10: Monitoring badger setts in Derbyshire
One of the UK’s most charismatic mammals, badgers are also one of the country’s most persecuted. Since the government began an ‘experiment’ in badger annihilation on behalf of the dairy industry (tearing up the Protection of Badgers Act 1992), hundreds of thousands have been slaughtered (see ‘The biggest wildlife genocide of our time is happening […]
This is the solution to end stag hunting forever
Stag hunting is possibly the UK’s most gruesome blood sport. When the Hunting Act came into force in 2005, stag hunters evaded the ban by using different loopholes in the law to their fox hunting friends. Protect the Wild argues that in order to end stag hunting once and for all, we need a complete […]
This is the solution to end fox hunting for good
Week in, week out, Protect the Wild reports on foxes being murdered, hunt staff harassing monitors or being violent towards them, hounds causing havoc on public roads, and more. Most hunts get away with all of this with total impunity. Why? Because of exemptions and loopholes written into the Hunting Act 2004 as it passed […]
Protecting the Wild Equipment Fund #8: Salisbury Plain Monitors
The Protecting the Wild Equipment Fund was set up in Summer 2023 to help put ‘eyes in the field‘, empowering people to protect British wildlife. We set the fund up because we know that many monitors are largely unfunded volunteers. That usually means that to be able to keep an eye on the countryside monitors […]
Snares: Scottish government must not be hoodwinked by gamekeepers
As the Scottish government considers a ban on the use of snares, land owners and gamekeepers have been making their pro-snare, pro-cruelty voices loudly heard. Recognising what an irretrievably appalling image snares have, they’re trying to rebrand the devices by giving them a friendlier name: humane cable restraints. A government consultation, asking the public for […]
Protecting the Wild Equipment Fund #7: Somerset Badger Monitors
One of the UK’s most charismatic mammals, badgers are also one of the country’s most persecuted. Despite being made illegal in 1835 badger baiting still takes place across the UK. Fox hunts illegally block badger setts to stop foxes hiding underground. And of course since the government began an ‘experiment’ in badger annihilation on behalf […]
The vile Pheasant shooting ‘season’ has started
With barely a press release or salivating media article, the pheasant shooting ‘season’ has started again in the UK. Over the next few months (until 1st of February) the countryside will echo with unwanted and upsetting reminders that birds are dying in vast numbers. It’s opened in marked contrast to the flurry of vapid puff […]
Protecting the Wild Eqipment Fund #6: Derbyshire Against The Cull
We set up the Protecting the Wild Equipment Fund earlier in the summer this year to help put ‘eyes in the field‘, empowering people to protect British wildlife. We set the fund up because we know that many people who monitor are largely unfunded volunteers and often have no umbrella organisation to support them. That […]
Protect the Wild – how supporters EMPOWER us!
Before I get into this, can I just say now please don’t let the first two paragraphs below put you off! This short post is written to let you know how grateful we at Protect the Wild are to you (our supporters, readers, and contributors) for helping us feel less powerless and more hopeful…and as […]
The Secret Monitor: Dishing the dirt on stag hunting
Damaging stories from inside hunting, shooting, and the badger cull have been circulating for years. Everything from breaking the law to assaults or harassment of monitors and the public and a police force seemingly happy to ‘look the other way’. But there is always someone watching, always someone listening. The Secret Monitor. In the first […]
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 […]
The Royals must be called out for their obsession with wildlife slaughter
The Royal Family is probably the most well-known family in the world. Its members’ daily lives are scrutinised by the mainstream media, their hobbies photographed for the front page. Through their choices, the Windsors have huge power to influence the public. The royals, with all their elite privilege, have always been keen hunters. Queen Victoria […]
BADGERS SAVED! With your help, this community has protected badgers!
A community in East Sussex has protected a badger sett from being destroyed by developers. Their story is an inspiration to us all and a perfect example of how we can save wildlife if we work together. Protect the Wild supporters’ donations were also vital in helping the community purchase the land and save the […]
Grant Shapps is anti-hunting. Will he do the right thing and ban fox hunting on MoD land?
On 31 August, Grant Shapps was appointed as the new defence secretary. Protect the Wild is urging Shapps to use his power to ban hunting on Ministry of Defence (MoD) land. A number of major landowners, such as the National Trust, have already banned hunting from taking place on their land. They have acknowledged that […]
The biggest wildlife genocide of our time is happening right now
It’s the start of September, which means that badgers are being mass-murdered as you read this. If you’re scrolling through this article just as the sun has gone down, badgers will be coming out of their setts in the countryside near you right now. At the same time, government-sanctioned shooters will be lined up, ready […]
Sarah Moulds case shines a light on speciesism in the UK
Cottesmore Hunt rider Sarah Moulds was found not guilty on 25 August for punching and kicking her horse Bruce. Her defence argument, and the subsequent verdict, once again highlights the speciesism that is rampant in society. As I already covered in a recent article, speciesism is where someone sees one species as superior to others, […]
Punching a horse is atrocious, but so is murdering fox cubs
Most people reading Protect the Wild already know this, but it bears being said. The media circus around Sarah Moulds highlights Britain’s broken relationship with other animals. When Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs filmed Moulds attacking a horse in November 2021, the footage went far and wide. Not only across anti-hunting social media but across the headlines […]
Petition launched to end hunting after family cat killed by hunt
In March 2021 Mini the cat was chased and killed by hunting hounds in a quiet residential area. As a result, we launched the campaign for Mini’s Law, (Public and Animal Safety Bill 2021) to ensure safety to the public and animals from hunting activity, such as trail hunts and exercise of hunting hounds. Two […]
MoD silent despite 23000 emails urging hunting ban
Fox hunting has suffered a number of major blows over the past few years. Major landowners such as the National Trust have banned hunting from taking place on their land. But one of the UK’s biggest landowners, the Ministry of Defence (MoD), is still refusing to ban the disgusting blood sport. Protect the Wild wants […]
What is the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show trying to hide?
Protect the Wild is campaigning with Action Against Foxhunting to ask ‘What is the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show trying to hide?’ GO TO LETTER Held at the The Turnpike Showground the annual Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show typically welcomes over 20,000 visitors. Some of them will be amongst the 85% of people who regularly tell […]
OPINION: The grouse shooting industry must be shut down
Over the last two days we’ve laid out some of the less than ‘glorious’ facts about the grouse shooting industry. In our first post, ‘There’s nothing ‘glorious’ about killing grouse‘, we outlined how the 12th of August (the ‘Inglorious 12th’) marks the start of a key ‘season’ for the shooting industry, and that over the […]
