GUILTY: Wynnstay terrierman sentenced for interfering with badger sett

Wynnstay Hunt terrierman Ryan Brennan has pleaded guilty to interfering with a badger sett in Shropshire. Blocking badger setts is illegal under the Protection of Badgers Act. Like every man who is found guilty of offences related to fox hunting, he avoided prison. The incident took place in January 2024. Brennan was given a ten-month […]

NORTHERN IRELAND: serial offender shows how court system failing animals

A man from Northern Ireland has been charged yet again with animal cruelty. His case is a prime example of how courts are failing to stop those with a bloodlust for killing animals. 36-year-old Neil Pinkerton didn’t show up at Newtownards court in County Down on 13 October, but his barrister told the District Judge […]

Hunter accused of six charges of animal cruelty

Sam Staniland, huntsman for the Essecx and Suffolk Hunt, during a cubbing meet in September 2022.

Sam Staniland, ex-huntsman for the Essex and Suffolk Hunt, was in court on Monday 18 December, accused of six charges under the Animal Welfare Act. The hunter pleaded not guilty to all six charges. He was accused of: Causing unnecessary suffering to a foxhound by failing to prevent the dog from fighting a fox on […]

TRIAL DATE FIXED: Avon Vale terrierman to face jury

alex warden avon vale

A trial date has been set for notorious Avon Vale terrierman Alex Warden. He will go to trial in Salisbury Crown Court on 21 December 2023. He is complicit in hounds tearing apart one fox, and chasing another. The Avon Vale Hunt made national headlines when a video was passed onto the Hunt Saboteurs Association […]

Badger baiting: yet another arrest made

badger

It’s thought that more than 10,000 badgers are murdered by baiters every year in the UK. And on 25 January yet another man was arrested on suspicion of badger baiting in North Yorkshire. Yorkshire Live reported that the man, in his twenties, was found with three injured dogs. The news website reported: “Police found a […]

Joseph Whittam: terrier abuser who keeps offending

thugly

Repeat animal abuser, Joseph Whittam, has been jailed for a second time after his address was raided. Whittam was banned from keeping animals for life in 2018 after gruesome footage was found on his phone, where he encouraged his dogs to rip a cat to pieces. The video was described as “blood curdling” by the […]

GUILTY: Terrierman convicted under Protection of Badgers Act

Mark Harris Spooners

On 27 January 2023, Devon County Hunt Saboteurs (DCHS) announced that sabs had secured yet another conviction. Spooners and West Dartmoor Hunt terrierman Mark Harris was found guilty under the Protection of Badgers Act after sabs caught terriermen digging out a badger sett. DCHS said: “Sabs’ actions on the day not only saved the fox’s […]