The Badsworth, Bramham, York South Hunt is expected to hold its annual parade in Easingwold this Boxing Day. However, hunt saboteurs and monitors have repeatedly exposed the hunt as a hub of anti-social and criminal acts. Does Easingwold Town Council want local residents and the wider public to view it as a supporter of such behaviour?
During the 2022/23 season alone, activists caught the Badsworth, Bramham, York South Hunt (BBYS) involved in a number of questionable and outright criminal actions. For example, York Anti-Hunt League reported that it caught the hunt’s hounds chasing a hare on 15 November 2022. The group said that:
“One hare was less than 70 meters from both the hounds and the huntsman, yet hounds were allowed to pursue the hare across two fields before any attempt was made to call the hounds back or go after them!“
And on BBYS’s 2023 New Year’s Day meet, the hunt lost control of its hounds as the pack began chasing deer. York Anti-Hunt League said the hounds even chased one deer down an active railway. Both these incidents reveal a hunt unable to control its own hounds while out in public.
Meanwhile, Hull Wildlife Protectors said BBYS knowingly trespassed into private woodland. The incident occurred during a meet in Camblesforth on 10 November 2022 and showed clear disrespect to members of the public.
https://twitter.com/MancHuntSabs/status/1313033534957850624
These incidents are just the tip of the iceberg, of course. Previous seasons have seen the hunt and those that formed it engaged in outrageous behaviour. The hunt hit national headlines in January 2020 after its hounds killed a seven-month-old kitten named Tiger. Later that year, in October, activists caught the hunt killing two foxes during a meet near Selby. Even before that the Badsworth and Bramham Moor Hunt – which forms one-half of the BBYS – made headlines for slamming a dead fox against Sheffield hunt Saboteurs’ car.
Such incidents are just the tip of the iceberg and go back years.
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Protect the Wild contacted Easingwold Town Council about BBYS holding its Boxing Day parade. We provided the incidents above as examples of why the council shouldn’t allow the hunt to use its land. However, it hadn’t responded at the time of publishing.
Boxing Day parades are public relations events for hunts. BBYS will use its Easingwold event to try and reinforce a biscuit tin image of a gentlemanly, jovial and community-minded group. However, activists have repeatedly shown it as an anti-social and criminal organisation.
Please sign our petition to Easingwold Town Council, encouraging it to put an end to the Badsworth, Bramham, York South Hunt’s Boxing Day PR event.
Featured image via Easingwold Against Foxhunting
