Beagle packs amalgamate, as hunts struggle across the UK

 

There’s some rare good news for British wildlife. Two more hunts have been forced to amalgamate, according to the Hunt Saboteurs Association. That makes five mergers already this year. Combined with the closure of Scotland’s Dumfriesshire & Stewarty Hunt that means there will be at least six less hunts overall next season. 

Sabs have recently confirmed that two hare hunts, the Wiltshire & Infantry Beagles (WIB) and the Chilmark & Clifton Foot Beagles (CCFB) have been forced to merge. Undercover wildlife defenders at a recent hound show noticed CCFB huntsman Toby Every showing off the newly formed Clifton & Infantry Beagles, and amalgamation of the previous two hunts.

Severn Vale Hunt Saboteurs commented on Facebook:

“One by one, until there are none”

The post by the South-West England based sab group attracted congratulations from many of their supporters.

The result of hard-fought campaigning

The HSA pointed out that one of the factors in the decision to amalgamate is likely to be the loss of hunting land on Salisbury Plain, following the Ministry of Defence’s moratorium on hunting licenses. Protect the Wild was part of the campaign to pressure the MOD to end hunting on its land, along with the HSA and many sabs and monitors around the UK.

Pro-hunting advocates argue that these amalgamations are a sign of adaptability not weakness, but the truth is very different. According to Protect the Wild’s Rob Pownall:

“The merger of the Wiltshire & Infantry Beagles and the Chilmark & Clifton Foot Beagles is yet another sign that the tide is turning against hunting. The fact that these hunts are being forced to consolidate (in part due to the Ministry of Defence withdrawing access to public land) is a testament to the growing pressure and public opposition they face. It’s also a reflection of the tireless work of local sab groups who have exposed and disrupted illegal hunting week after week.”

WIB huntsman Johnny Hathaway-White has reportedly taken up a new position with the Royal Artillery Hunt.

Hunts that have merged or collapsed so far in 2025

Here’s the tally of hunts that have collapsed or been forced to merge so far this year:

– The Puckeridge and Essex Union merged with the East Essex.

– The Morpeth Foxhounds in Northumberland amalgamated with the West Percy Hunt.

– Somerset’s Weston & Banwell/West Somerset Vale Hunt (W&BWSV) merged with the Taunton Vale Harriers.

– Scotland’s Dumfriesshire & Stewarty Hunt folded after persistent sabbing by Glasgow Hunt Saboteurs.

– North Shropshire Hunt amalgamated with the South Shropshire Hunt to form the Shropshire Hunt

– The Wiltshire & Infantry Beagles (WIB), and the Chilmark & Clifton Foot Beagles merged to make the Clifton & Infantry Beagles.

“A dying ‘sport'”

The new Clifton & Infantry Beagles is expected to be based at the old CCFB kennels in Yatton, north Somerset. According to the HSA, “their combined hunting country will include much of west Wiltshire, the Somerset Levels and the Mendip Hills”

A HSA spokesperson highlighted that the merger is a result of the hard work by sabs. They said:

“Another season, and another hunt amalgamation.

The rate that hunts are folding or merging is indicative of a dying ‘sport,’ with the hare hunting beagle packs in particular feeling the pressure from hunt sabs and dwindling support. But if they think that joining together with a new name is enough to save them, they can think again. The HSA won’t stop until they’re all consigned to the history books.”

 

Hare hunting is no less bloody than fox hunting

The merger of these two hare hunts is yet another blow to the UK’s remaining beagle packs.

In late June, Northamptonshire Police took the unusual step of bringing charges against the Pipewell Foot Beagles for killing a hare on Boughton Estate in January 2025 (Boughton is listed on our bloodbusiness.info database). What made this particularly noteworthy is that the Crown Prosecution Service chose to bring charges against the Pipewell Foot Beagles as a corporate entity.

A 19-year-old man from the Dorset and Somerset Bassets is currently facing a charge of illegal hare hunting too.

Protect the Wild’s Glen Black points out that hare hunting is no less bloody than fox hunting:

“Although hare hunting is overshadowed in the public consciousness by both fox hunting and hare coursing, it is no less despicable. In our report on the 2024/25 hunting season, Protect the Wild found that the average rate of wildlife persecution by beagle and basset packs far outstripped that of fox hunting. Sab and monitor groups reported 26 incidents of hare persecution across 15 meets, or roughly 1.73 incidents per meet.

Were these figures scaled up to the likely total number of beagle and basset pack meets throughout the season, Protect the Wild estimates that at least 6522 hares faced persecution.”

Featured images via Vincent-Van-Zalinge and Gary Bedinge on Unsplash