Nails in hunting’s coffin: 2024’s guilty convictions
2024 saw numerous hunters in the dock, either for hunting-related offences, or for the violence they inflicted on hunt saboteurs and monitors. Protect the Wild takes a look at the year’s convictions, and what this might mean for the future of hunting with dogs. Despite there being a larger number of hunters or their supporters […]
SURVEY: Just 18% of public believe trail hunting is NOT a smokescreen
A new survey taken earlier this month has revealed that only 18% of the public believes that trail hunting is NOT a smokescreen to get around the ban on hunting wild animals with dogs. The majority of the public also believes there must be stronger legislation to protect wildlife. The poll, carried out by Survation […]
A stag swims for his life before being brutally killed by hunters
The Labour government needs to urgently act and ban hunting after more footage has revealed a hunt killing a stag. The deer was chased for more than four hours before desperately swimming for his life. He was then brutally killed. North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs were joined by Mendip Hunt Sabs as they tried to prevent […]
Labour must end fox hunting for good
On 5 July Labour formed a new government after winning the General Election with a huge majority. The party has pledged to strengthen the Hunting Act 2004, closing the trail hunting loophole. Protect the Wild argues that they can go a huge step further. This article explains how. The hunting industry is on its last […]
Labour vows to ban hunting with dogs
Labour has vowed that it will properly ban hunting with dogs if it gets into power. Shadow environment secretary Steve Reed stated: “People have seen the images of packs of hounds getting into private back gardens, killing cats, ripping flocks apart. There’s not a majority in any part of the country that wants to see […]
Holderness Hunt kills fox in front of monitors, police take ‘no further action’
* WARNING: There are graphic images included with this report. We’ve not used them to be gratuitous but to illustrate what we consider to be clear evidence of a wildlife crime * In March 2023 Hull Wildlife Protectors (HWP) photographed hounds from the Beverly-based Holderness Hunt tearing apart a fox while hunt staff looked on […]
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 […]
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 […]
Ledbury Hunt continues to get away with murder.
In early December 2022, the ex-huntsman of the Quorn Hunt, Ollie Finnegan, pleaded guilty to hunting foxes after his own WhatsApp messages incriminated him. The Quorn had been visiting Gloucestershire for a joint meet with the Ledbury Hunt on 7 January 2022. But it was only Finnegan who was prosecuted, while staff from the Ledbury […]
