Freshly unearthed video shows former huntsman torturing a fox cub
On 21 June, the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) publicly shared footage of a man using a terrier to abuse a fox cub. It said the man in the footage was Oliver Thompson, the former huntsman of the Old Berkshire Hunt. The mobile phone footage first shows the man using a spade handle to roughly remove […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Telegraph published claims foxes are declining because they aren’t hunted – but why?
On 9 May, the Telegraph reported on a letter that claimed foxes are facing a “catastrophic decline”. The cause, the letter claimed, is the hunting ban. The claim is unsurprisingly questionable given where it came from. As outlined in the Canary, the letter was made available exclusively to the Telegraph, and it named only one […]
“The Shooting Industry: it’s not just hunts that kill foxes”
A fox trots through a quiet wood. Suddenly a gun blast tears the air. Pheasant alarm calls ring out. The fox runs as birds are shot out of the sky… Those are the opening few seconds of a new 90 second animation we’re about to launch. It’s produced for Protect the Wild by Ben Sinclair […]
Podcast 02: Snares and trailing a new campaign
A short podcast by Charlie Moores about snares – recorded the day before he headed to London to listen to a pro-hunt and pro-shoot government ‘debate’ last year’s petition organised by Animal Aid that called for a ban on the use, sale, and manufacture of snares… “If you’re a certain age you may remember […]
Ending Bird Shooting – let’s talk about foxes
How do you persuade an audience that is primarily interested in fighting foxhunting to become as concerned about the bird shooting industry? Oddly enough (and as a lifelong birder I’m writing this through slightly gritted teeth as it were), it’s probably not by talking about birds… Last year Keep the Ban, which was built […]
Pain, fear and hypothermia: the ‘agonising reality’ for animals caught in snares this winter
Temperatures have dropped significantly in the UK, with many areas seeing thick snow. In these current conditions, you would think that gamekeepers would be deterred from setting fox snares. Unfortunately, wildlife monitors and members of the public are still coming across them. If an animal is trapped in a snare in sub-zero temperatures, their pain […]
New body to regulate fox hunts just another smokescreen?
New body set up to regulate fox hunts – just another smokescreen? On 10 June the Hunting Office made an announcement stating that a new representative body, the British Hounds Sports Association (BHSA), will be responsible for the governance of hunts and hunting. A separate regulatory body is being set up, called the Hound Sports […]
