OPINION: The REALITY behind the ‘Glorious 12th’ – traps, snares and wildlife crime
The only ‘predators’ tolerated on grouse moors are the humans who pay to kill Red Grouse, not eat them to survive. Which means that cruel and indiscriminate trapping and snaring and the illegal killing of birds of prey is carried out on a vast scale all year round.
OPINION: There’s nothing ‘glorious’ about killing grouse
The 12th of August (the ‘Inglorious 12th’) marks the start of a key ‘season’ for the shooting industry. During the next 121 days the industry will sell thousands of Red Grouse to shooters. It is in effect the start of the ‘Christmas shopping period’ for the shooting industry when it hopes to make money on […]
Who’s got the ‘begging bowl’ out now?
Two recent incidents point to a yawning void in the world of hunting. First, fintech company SumUp put hunting on its shit list, meaning hunts can no longer use it as a transaction method. Second, the British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) published a video pleading for new members. Together, they expose the hunting industry’s financial […]
Evil brothers buried charity cyclist in stink pit on shooting estate
Last week the Daily Record reported that a speeding drunk-driver, Alexander McKellar, 31, had pleaded guilty to causing the death of charity cyclist Tony Parsons by hitting the 63-year-old with his vehicle on the A82 near Bridge of Orchy, Argyll and Bute (Scotland), on September 29, 2017. He and his twin brother Robert McKellar both […]
SumUp denies hunts card payment services
It’s been one blow after another for fox hunters these past couple of years. Struggling to stay afloat, a number of hunts have shut down or amalgamated. And now they have been hit with yet another financial woe: they have been banned from taking card payments at their fundraising events. This is a major victory […]
Chepstow Show won’t review decision to host Curre and Llangibby Hunt
Despite protests by local residents, organisers from the Chepstow Show have told campaigners they will not be reviewing a decision to invite the Curre and Llangibby Foxhounds to parade there on August 12th (coincidentally also the date that shooters will again open fire on Red Grouse on moorland shooting estates). Held at Chepstow Racecourse, the […]
A ‘nation of animal lovers’, more like a nation of wildlife killers
In the UK, we pride ourselves as being a nation that loves animals. We donate readily to the Dogs Trust or to Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, while 53% of us has a pet. Our pets are protected from abuse under the Animal Welfare Act, and a person can be prosecuted if the animal’s needs […]
Police slap a newly merged hunt with an ‘ASBO’ before it’s even got going
Police in Hertfordshire have slapped the Puckeridge and Essex Union Hunt with a Community Protection Notice (CPN). The requirements of the notice are extensive and will hamper the pack’s week-to-week hunting. On 26 July, Hertfordshire Constabulary announced it had issued a CPN to the Puckeridge and Essex Union Hunt. The stipulations of the notice include […]
‘Moor’ bad news for grouse shooting in run up to Inglorious 12th
As we reported on July 22nd, United Utilities (UU), the largest corporate landowner in England, announced its decision to no longer renew grouse shooting leases on its moorland. The last of those leases will end in 2027, after which time UU (unless they bow to pressure from the shooting industry) will be out of the […]
Four men given suspended prison sentences for hare coursing
Four men have been given the most severe sentences for hare coursing that we have seen in the UK. The men were hare coursing in Spalding on 9 November 2022, and were arrested by Lincolnshire Rural Crime officers. All four pleaded guilty to the charges against them. The four men, aged between 33 and 40, […]
BREAKING: United Utilities to end grouse shooting
As reported by Alex Thomson of Channel 4, “United Utilities, the largest corporate landowner in England, is pulling grouse shooting on its moorland by way of not renewing its leases when they come to an end. Its grouse shooting leases cover many high profile moorland landscapes, including the Forest of Bowland AONB, the Goyt Valley, […]
Cottesmore huntsman Sam Jones charged with assault
Cottesmore huntsman Sam Jones has finally been charged by the police after he trampled a hunt saboteur with his horse. The incident took place on 11 February 2023. Jones was arrested on 14 February, and was finally charged with common assault on 14 July. He will appear in Leicester Magistrates’ Court on 11 August. The […]
Another not guilty verdict: a stark reminder that the Hunting Act is broken
John Holliday, ex-huntsman of the Belvoir Hunt, was found not guilty of illegal hunting on 11 July. His case is a stark reminder that the Hunting Act needs scrapping and replacing with a proper anti-hunting law. Holliday was on trial for killing a fox on 15 January 2022. Nottingham Hunt Saboteurs reported: “The court decided […]
Hunting ban laws across the UK
There are hunting laws across much of the UK. However, it is a devolved matter so the exact legislation differs between England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. First and foremost, it’s crucial to note that the criminal activity in hunting is the pursuit and not the killing of wildlife. While a dead creature may […]
Scottish court convicts Duke of Buccleuch’s Hunt supporter of assaulting a hunt saboteur
Jedburgh Sheriff Court convicted a Duke of Buccleuch’s Hunt supporter of assaulting a hunt saboteur during a meet in September 2022. Local paper Border Telegraph reported on 8 July that John Thomson plead guilty to two charges after spitting, shouting, and threatening to kill a member of Scottish Borders Hunt Saboteurs. The incident happened during […]
GUILTY: Former Avon Vale Hunt thugs charged with illegal hunting
Two ex-members of the Avon Vale Hunt pleaded guilty to illegal hunting at Swindon Magistrates Court on Wednesday 5 July. Aaron Fookes, who was whipper-in, and Stuart Radbourne, who was hunt master, were charged along with a third man, terrierman Alex Warden, after they were caught on video terrorising two foxes. Fookes also pleaded guilty […]
Wynnstay huntsman pleads guilty of threatening behaviour
Wynnstay huntsman Chris Woodward has pleaded guilty to causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress, an offence under the Public Order Act. The hunter rode his horse at a Cheshire Monitors volunteer during a fox hunting meet on 7 January 2023. Woodward galloped towards the monitor on his horse, almost knocking the man to the ground. […]
VICTORY: County Down Staghounds bites the dust
Hunt saboteurs in Northern Ireland are celebrating as news comes in that County Down Staghounds is disbanding. Hunt Saboteurs NI announced: “The criminal County Down Staghounds have decided to disband, their years of illegal carting, killing pets and causing horrific pain to wildlife is over. Good riddance you bunch of murdering scumbags.” Meanwhile, Action Against […]
Anti-social behaviour and the Law
Antisocial Behaviour and the Law Antisocial behaviour is legally defined as “behaviour by a person which causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to persons not of the same household as the person’. When most people think about ‘antisocial behaviour’ they probably think about being disturbed by rowdy yobs gathering in gangs […]
Nazi salute hunt supporter pleads guilty to harassment
A hunt supporter filmed performing a Nazi salute during a Wynnstay Hunt meet has pleaded guilty to aggravated harassment. Protect the Wild reported in February on Ian Jones, who performed a ‘sieg heil’ salute at Cheshire Monitors. The incident occurred during a Wynnstay Hunt meet on 7 February, with a member of the monitor group […]
Another hare hunting pack has reportedly folded
The Hunt Saboteurs Association reported on 28 June that the Leadon Vale Basset Hounds had folded. It said the pack, which was one of the few remaining basset packs in the country, had come under increasing pressure by sab groups in recent years. And its demise is a sign of the times for hare hunting. […]
Melbreak Huntsman Christopher Nixon convicted of assault (Part Two)
As we reported in Part One of this article, in June 2023 Christopher Nixon (pictured above), a huntsman with the notorious Melbreak Hunt was convicted of the common assault of Darren Ward and fined £945. Mr Ward (Darren) had been trying for months to keep the Melbreak and five other fell packs off his land, […]
GOOD NEWS: Wales bans snares
Wales has banned snares. It is the first country in the UK to do so, and campaigners say the decision puts pressure on the rest of the Britain to follow suit. The Welsh Senedd unanimously agreed to pass the Agriculture (Wales) Bill on 27 June. The broad bill covers a range of measures related to […]
Melbreak Huntsman Christopher Nixon convicted of assault (Part One)
On the 12th of June, Christopher Nixon, the Melbreak Hunt’s huntmaster, was convicted of the common assault of Darren Ward, and fined a total of £945. The assault by Nixon, who was challenged while walking with seven dogs on land owned by Mr Ward, was recorded on a phone and used as evidence in court. […]
Short-eared Owl shot and killed on Peak District grouse moor
The RSPB has released news of the shooting of a Short-eared Owl on Broomhead Estate, a notorious grouse moor in the Peak District National Park. The incident took place last summer but wasn’t publicised until police investigations had concluded. The shooting was witnessed and recorded on a mobile phone by an individual birding on the […]
Judge hands hit-and-run hunt supporter a suspended sentence
Angela Jarrom, who ran a hunt saboteur down in October 2022, pleaded guilty on 15 June. But the sab that was hit said her sentence will do little to cool acts of violence at hunt meets. Jarrom targetted Lisa Jaffray during a meet of the Cottesmore Hunt on 25 October 2022. After spotting Lisa, Jarrom […]
RSPB: The Economics of Driven Grouse Shooting Report
The RSPB (the “UK’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a home and secure a healthy environment for wildlife’) recently published a report called ‘Driven Grouse Shooting – Assessing the economic and social impacts of future options for grouse moor management‘ Or did they? Curiously, this detailed and over 100-pages long report […]
Cat found nearly ‘cut in two’ after a snare wrapped around his stomach
When Harry arrived back at his home after five days, his return should have delighted Marion Brownlie. Instead, she was shocked. Harry, a farm cat living with Brownlie, had a deep welt across his abdomen. And it was the result of a snare. Brownlie lives in St Cyrus, Aberdeenshire, on Scotland’s eastern coast. Harry had […]
Natural England’s Tony Juniper: overseeing the devastation of England’s biodiversity
The chair of Natural England (the government’s adviser for the natural environment in England) has hypocritically argued that England “is going to have to work much harder” if it wants to meet biodiversity targets. In his role, Tony Juniper is actively responsible for the loss of biodiversity. The Tories’ biodiversity targets have already been called […]
Disgraced hunter Ollie Finnegan fails to show up for court
Cheshire huntsman Ollie Finnegan failed to turn up at Crewe Magistrates Court on 13 June 2023. He was due to enter a plea to two charges of hunting a wild mammal with dogs. Cheshire Against Blood Sports (CABS) told Protect the Wild that Finnegan’s legal representation didn’t show up to court, either. The trial has […]
Public Spaces Protection Orders
Public Space Protection Orders Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) were introduced under ‘Community Protection’, Chapter 2, Section 4 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. They give local authorities power to “ban specific acts in a designated geographical area in England and Wales”, and replace the earlier designated public place orders, gating orders […]
The Animal Welfare Act 2006
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 The Animal Welfare Act 2006 (which came in to force in April 2007) overhauled the legal protection of vertebrate animals. It applies to actions taken on the land and all inland waters and estuaries in England and Wales. The Act introduced the notion of species-specific legislation and combined over twenty […]
“Huge blow for struggling species” as yet more Hen Harriers ‘disappear’
The suspicious disappearance of two rare Hen Harriers is “a huge blow for a struggling species”, the RSPB has said. The UK’s most persecuted bird of prey, an adult Hen Harrier ‘disappeared’ from the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire on 4 May after its satellite-tag stopped transmitting, and another bird went missing in what the […]
Hedgerows and the Law
Hedgerows and the Law In May 2024 Defra announced The Management of Hedgerows (England) Regulations 2024 which put the baseline for hedgerow management practices into law, providing a consistent approach for their protection across the country. This includes: a 2-metre buffer strip, measured from the centre of a hedgerow, where a green cover must be […]
Northumberland: Badger suffers excruciating death in snare
Another badger has died unnecessarily after getting caught in an illegal snare in Northumberland. The RSPCA was called out to the badger after receiving a call from the public. The charity said that the snare had become embedded in the creature’s neck and had to be cut out in three different places. The RSPCA’s Rachael […]
Dogs and the Law
Dogs and the Law We love dogs here at Protect the Wild, but through no fault of their own they are widely used by hunters, shooters, and wildlife criminals like badger baiters and hare coursers to fight, chase, retrieve, or kill wild animals. That means that we may well come across dogs (or packs of […]
West Midland Hunt Sab receives payout from police who posed as postal workers in dawn raid
A member of West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs has received a “substantial payout” after being targeted by Thames Valley Police (TVP). The sab took a civil case against the police for false imprisonment, assault, trespass and aggravated damages. TVP was given false information by a member of Warwickshire Beagles, which it was all too ready to […]
Kept Animals Bill was ditched to protect the hunting industry, Defra letter suggests
The government has dropped the Kept Animals Bill, which promised to alleviate some of the worst excesses of animal cruelty. And it dropped the bill to protect its mates in the hunting industry. When the government dropped the Kept Animals Bill, it provided a cryptic reason for doing so. Mark Spencer, Defra minister, claimed on […]
Hunt Havoc and Farmed Animals
Hunt Havoc and farmed animals Hunts need huge areas of land to hunt on. Legally they must follow a scent trail laid before setting off, and not go where they’re not wanted or not allowed. Hunts need huge areas of land to hunt on. Legally they must follow a scent trail laid before setting off, […]
New footage shows the ‘untold suffering’ of legal traps on a notorious grouse shooting estate
Moorland Monitors has captured footage of a crow caught up and unnaturally twisted in a ‘clam trap’ on open access land in the Peak District. And it shows what one person can do with just a phone. Moorland Monitors shared phone-filmed footage showing two crows in two separate cages set next to each other. It […]
Chris Packham’s succesful libel case is a win for everyone
Chris Packham has won his libel case against Country Squire Magazine. However, the good news has come at the cost of Packham’s safety as the naturalist said he now lives with the constant threat of intimidation and violence. Packham’s case began on 2 May at the High Court in London. It accused editor Dominic Wightman, […]
Cheshire Police have summoned a man to court on illegal hunting charges
Cheshire Police have issued a summons for a Northwich-based man to attend court on two illegal hunting charges. The unnamed man faces two charges under Section 1 of the Hunting Act. The first relates to an incident that occurred at Chorley Green on 22 November 2022. The second relates to an incident a few days […]
Norfolk police charge three men over viral footage hunting incident
Norfolk Constabulary has said that it’s filed a number of charges against three men from the West Norfolk Foxhounds over two hunting incidents in February. According to the police, the first of these incidents occurred at Tittleshall on 8 February, during which Norfolk/Suffolk Hunt Saboteurs said the West Norfolk Foxhounds chased a fox. The second […]
Spate of cats and dogs caught in snares shows just how widespread these cruel devices are
The past few weeks have seen a spate of news articles about traps and snares catching domestic creatures, leading to a variety of outcomes. And all of them are a reminder of just how cruel the devices are. On 16 May, Halesowen News reported that a cat named Loki “dragged himself home” after he was […]
Puckeridge Hunt escapes conviction despite judge finding its action ‘deeply suspicious’
Huntsman Arun Squire has escaped a conviction of illegal hunting. However, the judge recognised that it wasn’t his actions that got him off the charge, but the wording of the law itself. Squire appeared at Stevenage Magistrates Court on 15 and 16 May on a Section 1 Hunting Act charge. It came after hunt saboteurs […]
The Welsh Senedd has just approved a ban on snares without amendments
The Welsh Senedd has held its third stage reading of the Agriculture Bill. This proposed legislation, amongst other things, contains a section on the use of snares. And despite attempts to water down restrictions, the ban has continued unabated. On 16 May, Wales’s Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee held the Stage 3 reading of […]
MoD respond to petition calling for end of hunting licences
Protect the Wild recently launched a campaign to ban so-called ‘trail hunting’ on Ministry of Defence (MoD) land, part of our wider determination to end hunting with dogs permanently and achieve a Proper Ban on Hunting. While most major landowners have seen through the ‘smokescreen’ of ‘trail hunting’, the MoD is still issuing licences that […]
Paltry punishment for wealthy company that deliberately burnt moor
A company worth almost £20 million has pleaded guilty after it deliberately burnt swathes of moorland in the Peak District. Dunlin Ltd, which owns Midhope Moors, didn’t have a licence to set fire to the land but was fined just a paltry £2,645. Dunlin’s land agents, JM Osbourne Rural and Sporting, had initially applied for […]
Another huntsman is guilty of illegal hunting. And this time he admitted to it.
Shaun Parish plead guilty to illegal hunting at Peterborough Magistrates Court on 11 May. He is huntsman for the now three-times convicted Fitzwilliam Hunt. Police brought charges against Parish after Peterborough Hunt Sabs filmed him hunting a fox near at Stibbington, Peterborough, on 5 March 2022. The sab group published the footage, which shows Parish […]
Hen Harriers: Illegal killing major cause of death, says RSPB
As everyone but the shooting industry acknowledges, illegal killing IS the main cause of death in Hen Harriers aged between one and two years, and a major cause of death in birds under one year, according to a new paper, published in the journal Biological Conservation, and led by the RSPB. According to a press […]
Protectors of the Wild – putting eyes in the field
Have you ever wondered what UK law says about hunting, shooting, collecting bird eggs, or about foxes, badgers, and bats? About operating drones, using airguns, or driving quad bikes legally? What the Hunting Act 2004 says, or whether the snare or spring trap you’ve just found is being used within the law or not? Us […]
Cotswold Hunt sanctions aren’t enough: it needs to be shut down
Hunt’s governing body, the British Hound Sports Association (BHSA), has failed to take any meaningful lasting action against the criminal Cotswold Hunt. The BHSA suspended the Cotswold Hunt in March after Channel 4 exposed harrowing footage of a fox, who had been bundled into a bag by the hunt and buried alive. But a BHSA […]