In this mid-August fox hunting update, hunts around the UK have begun the Summer ‘cubbing season’. Cubbing is the disgraceful practice of hunting and killing young foxes and hares (leverets) to give their new hounds a taste for blood.
Our stories this month include:
– Sabs and monitors organise to stop cubbing.
– Police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announce new charges and prosecutions against hunters for breaches of the Hunting Act.
– In parliamentary news, over 60 MPs wrote to the Minister for Food and Rural Affairs demanding a timeline for the government’s promised consultation on fox hunting. Independent MP and ex-Leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn and Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy have pledged their support for a proper ban on hunting. Meanwhile, a Tory Police and Crime Commissioner has defected to the openly pro-hunt far-right Reform party.
– Two Welsh country shows have hosted hound parades by hunts, despite local opposition.
– Finally, Locals Against the Cottesmore Hunt and Northants Hunt Sabs (NHS) organised a demo against another of the Cottesmore’s fundraising events. NHS have pledged to protest every fundraiser organised by the struggling hunt. Read on to find out more.
Attempted killing of fox cubs continues
In our last fox Hunting News Update we published reports of early cubbing. Unfortunately, more news of cub hunting has been coming in from sabs and monitors.
On 2 August, Shropshire Against Blood Sports published reports from local people in Stapeley that the United Pack were out causing chaos with their hounds at 5am, in a likely cubbing incident. Residents reported that the pack frightened sheep and pets, and that their concerns were met with a callous shrug of the shoulders from the hunt.
East Yorkshire Coast Hunt Sabs have been watching the Middleton Hunt closely, too. The Middleton has also been out repeatedly in the early hours and sabs are keeping them under close tabs to stop any attempts at cubbing.
Saboteurs save cubs in Devon
Devon County Hunt Saboteurs were out on the evening of 9 August, after receiving a tip-off that the Eggesford Hunt – equipped with a quad bike carrying caged terriers – were hunting fox cubs at Ingleigh Green. The Hunt Saboteurs Association wrote:
“Two sabs [From DCHS] followed huntsman Jason Marles and his whipper-in Jade on foot, while a sab drone unit followed proceedings from above. Marles put hounds into hedgerows, maize fields, waist-high cover crop and dense woodland in his search for cubs to hunt.”
DCHS Sabs were able to intervene twice to prevent the Hunt from making a kill. The scorching heat of the day hampered the hunt too, with many dogs taking refuge in the cool stream.
Training dogs to hunt by tearing up young foxes and hares is shameful and cruel. We need a proper ban on fox hunting to stop this bloodsport once and for all.
Last week Protect the Wild handed in a petition demanding that the government close up the loopholes and put in place a workable ban on hunting. Read our post about the petition here to learn more.
Support the sabs and monitors organising against this barbaric practice:
Shropshire Against Blood Sports | Devon County Hunt Saboteurs | East Yorkshire Coast Saboteurs
More charges and prosecutions against hunters
This year has seen a sharp rise in the number of hunters facing charges and being dragged before the courts for wildlife crime offences. Here’s a rundown of developments over the past few weeks.
Cottesmore terrierman and huntsman to face trial
Max Logan, the terrierman of the notoriously violent Cottesmore Hunt has appeared in court charged with interfering with a badger sett, which is illegal under the 1992 Protection of Badgers Act. Cottesmore Huntsman Sam Jones is charged with aiding and abetting Logan in carrying out the offence. The pair have both entered ‘not guilty’ pleas and will stand trial at Loughborough Magistrates Court on the 17 and 18 September 2025.
Terriermen are employed by hunts to block badger setts and fox earths prior to a meet, and to send their terriers to bolt a fox if she goes to ground. They also use terriers to hold the fox at bay while they dig out the sett she is hiding in. The presence of terriermen is just one more piece of evidence that trail hunting and drag hunting are a sham, used to mask a blatant illegality and disregard for wildlife protection legislation.
The charges were brought after Northants Hunts Saboteurs (NHS) filmed Logan digging into a badger sett on 09 January 2025 in Owston Wood in Leicestershire.
This means that Jones will be on trial twice in September. He’s already facing trial for hunting a wild mammal with dogs on 18 January.
This is by no means Jones’ first time in the dock. In August 2023, he appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to common assault after his horse leapt a fence while a sab was standing on the other side. As a result, the horse hit the saboteur. Jones then rode off and continued hunting. That incident happened in February 2023, but Jones was acquitted by a judge in November 2023, in one more display of the courts’ pro-hunt bias.
Eggesford Terrierman receives a caution and Middleton huntsman charged
Devon County Hunt Saboteurs (DCHS) reported that Eggesford Hunt terrierman Danny Pearce has been handed a caution by Devon & Cornwall Police. This was the result of a very clear video from December 2024 showing the aftermath of the killing of a fox. Two Eggesford terriermen were seen speeding away after sabs disturbed their deadly handiwork. When the wildlife defenders arrived at the scene they found an active badger sett that had been blocked with nets. A terrier wearing a location tracking device was filmed emerging from the sett and the disembowelled body of a fox was discovered nearby. The terriermen had clearly fled the scene when they realised the sabs were coming. Watch DCHS’ video here.
DCHS commented on the caution:
“As supporters of our movement are aware, the law doesn’t stop hunting. The only people intervening to stop criminal gangs like Eggesford Hunt are hunt sabs. Unfortunately we can’t prevent every kill, and on this occasion we were probably about five minutes too late. However, for as long as they keep hunting, we’ll keep doing our best to stop them.”
Finally, East Yorkshire Coast Hunt Saboteurs reported on Facebook that the Middleton Hunts’ huntsman, Jason O’Donnell has been charged with common assault. He is due to appear at Scarborough Justice Centre on 8 September 2025.
Protect the Wild has been collecting data on ongoing prosecutions relating to fox hunting. In total there have been a whopping 20 hunt-related convictions so far in 2025, with a further 18 cases going through the courts.
Support the sabs and monitors holding the hunts to account:
Northants Hunt Saboteurs | Devon County Hunt Saboteurs | East Yorkshire Coast Sabs
Parliamentary news roundup
On 30 July more than 60 MPs called on the government to release a timetable for their promised consultation on a trail hunting ban. Meanwhile, Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn and London Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy have pledged their support for a proper ban on hunting.
In April 2025, Labour Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Daniel Zeichner reaffirmed Labour’s stated intention to make good on its 2024 election promise to ban trail hunting. He pledged that the government would carry out a public consultation on the ban this year.
However, there has been precious little movement on the consultation since then. The MPs’ letter demands that Zeichner set out a timetable for the debate. They wrote:
“Alongside the brutal deaths of foxes, stags, hares and other wild animals, dogs continue to be killed on an industrial scale to facilitate the enjoyment of those who flout the law. Local residents are inconvenienced.”
They asked:
“When will the consultation on a trail hunting ban begin, and how long will it be open for comment?
Will the consultation be limited to the potential of banning trail hunting, or will it consider a wider range of measures to end hunting with hounds?
Is there a predicted timetable for the introduction of legislation arising from the consultation?”
The MPs concluded:
“We hope you will agree that twenty years on, it is time to deliver the meaningful ban on hunting with hounds that the public expects and animals deserve”
Pro-hunt Police and Crime Commissioner
Rupert Matthews, the Leicestershire and Rutland Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has defected from the Tories to the far-right Reform UK party. The elected commissioner’s move makes him Reform’s first PCC. Now a member of a party which, amongst other toxic polices, is avowedly pro-fox hunting one might ask whether Matthews is likely to perform his role in an unbiased manner.
We’ve all seen the consequences of having a pro-hunt Police and Crime Commissioner. This year, a campaign by Warwickshire Hunt Saboteurs unearthed a secret protocol between Warwickshire Constabulary and the Warwickshire Hunt. The local Conservative PCC is Philip Seccombe, a self-confessed member of the Countryside Alliance. Read more about the secret protocol here.
If police do voice anti-hunting views they come under attack from colleagues and pro-hunt advocacy groups. Chief Superintendent Matt Longman, the National Police Chief’s lead on illegal hunting, attended an event called by the Time For Change coalition as an ‘expert speaker’ to discuss a new hunting ban. In his speech he compared hunting to burglary or drug dealing. Longman has spoken for a ban on hunting on several other occasions too. He recently came under an intense attack from the British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) and Tory ex-Defence Secretary Ben Wallace. Wallace even called for him to be stripped of his role. Devon and Cornwall Police just dismissed an official complaint which had been made against him.
Protect the Wild is joining other groups in demanding that the government’s consultation on trail hunting takes place in a timely manner. More than two decades after the 2004 Hunting Act we are still seeing British wildlife dying cruelly and needlessly. What are we waiting for?
- Read our article about the government’s pledge to launch a consultation on a new hunting ban.
- Read our proposal for a real, workable ban on trail hunting.
- Read our page on ‘Foxes and the law’.
Welsh country shows host hunts again
Two Welsh country shows recently hosted hunt groups. Woolaston Bassets and the Chepstow-based Curre and Llangibby Hunt both appeared at this years Chepstow Show on 9 August. The Vale of Glamorgan Show confirmed to Protect the Wild that it would be hosting the Glamorgan Hunt at its 13 August event.
The Chepstow Show has repeatedly hosted hound parades by hunts, despite fierce local opposition. The Curre Hunt (which has now amalgamated with to form the Curre and Llangibby) attracted notoriety when an undercover investigation by the Hunt Investigation Team in May 2016 detailed fox cubs being ‘fed’ to hounds.
Opposition to hunt participation at the Chepstow Show is longstanding. One local resident told Protect the Wild’s Charlie Moores bacj in 2023 (on condition of anonymity) that:
“I find it ugly and disappointing that the local Chepstow Show aimed at families, parades this disgusting and probably illegal organisation at its event.”
Keeping hunt participation on the down-low
It does seem like these shows are being increasingly circumspect about publicising the participation of hunts. The Vale of Glamorgan Show wasn’t exactly shouting from the rooftops about hunt participation in their event. According to Protect the Wild’s Blood Business database’s editors:
“Like so many of these ‘country shows’ you can scour the VofG Show website for any mention of hunting and not find any. There is nothing on the Dogs page, on the Showground page, though a cropped image of a red coat on the Guidance for Visitors page hints that the Show regularly hosts the Glamorgan Hunt, allowing them to ‘parade’ their hounds in front of visitors.”
The importance of these Summer country shows to hunt advocates was illustrated recently when the pro-hunt Countryside Alliance referred to one show as “one of the highlights of the summer hunting calendar”.
You can contact the Vale of Glamorgan Show at vale.show@outlook.com and the Chepstow Show at chepstowshow@hotmail.co.uk and give them feedback about the participation of hunts in their events.
-
If you have information about hunt participation in shows like these please let Protect the Wild know so we can list them on our Blood Business website.
Wildlife Defenders protest another fundraising event for the Cottesmore Hunt
On 15 August, members of Northants Hunt Saboteurs (NHS) and Locals Against the Cottesmore Hunt held a protest at the Hunt’s ‘Rounders and Races’ fundraiser. NHS have pledged to demonstrate outside every fundraising event by the Cottesmore as part of a wider campaign to shut them down
NHS wrote:
“For how long will the Cottesmore continue to embarrass themselves with such events before they realise that our campaign to close them is the only real winner?…..”
The attendance at the hunt fundraiser was embarrassingly low. NHS quipped that “With a pathetic turnout like that it would barely raise enough cash to pay for one hour of their huntsman Sam Jones’s legal fees for his two upcoming trials” (see above to read about Jones’ legal woes).
The protest marked the fourth time that wildlife defenders have taken to the streets to mark their opposition to the notorious hunt. On 9 August, sabs turned up to show their opposition to the Hunt’s Summer ‘Fun Ride’ – aiming to, in NHS’s words, “highlight to all riders in attendance that their money funds illegal fox hunting”.
The Cottesmore Hunt has a proven track record of violence against wildlife and wildlife defenders alike. In fact the Hunt sparked a national controversy after it hired thugs to attack sabs and monitors. Four people conncted to the Cottesmore have been convicted for violent offences against hunt opponents since 2022.
With two court appearances scheduled for September, things aren’t looking good for the Cottesmore. The constant demos against them are an effective way of delegitimising the Hunt. The likes of the Cottesmore shouldn’t be able to masquerade as a respectable community organisation on the one hand while meting out intimidation and violence to those who oppose them on the other.
-
Check out Northants Hunt Saboteurs and Locals Against the Cottesmore Hunt
-
Rupert Gibson Photography in Leicester took photographs at the Cottesmore Hunt’s ‘Fun Ride’ event. We’ve listed them on our Blood Business website.
Image of fox cubs via Mike Baird/Wikimedia Commons. Houses of Parliament by Adrian Pingstone / Wikimedia Commons
