Equipment Fund: Keeping up the pressure on Cheshire’s hunts
Twenty years after the passing of the Hunting Act there are still several hundred hunts going out with packs of hounds (and more often than not with a hardcore of badger baiters and dog fighters that make up hunt ‘terriermen’). Having tried to bludgeon the public and the authorities into submission and force repeal of […]
GUILTY: Wynnstay Hunt security guard convicted of racial abuse
A security guard working for the notorious Wynnstay Hunt pleaded guilty in court on 15 July. He was charged after racially abusing a hunt saboteur, which is a hate crime. Anthony Williams was one of the Wynnstay’s hired thugs on 6 January 2024. Cheshire Hunt Saboteurs reported that Williams acted like the Incredible Hulk. He […]
Hunt monitors urge us to complain about Horse & Hound magazine
Hunt monitors are asking people to complain about Horse & Hound’s recent cover story, which misleads its readers about the criminal Wynnstay Hunt. The ‘struggling hunt propaganda‘ publication’s feature article, written by Oliver Townend (whose website says he is the World Number One Event Rider and stresses the importance of his sponsors), waxes poetic about […]
National Trust: failure to enforce ban emboldening hunts
The National Trust (NT) banned so-called trail hunting back in October 2021, after a hard-fought battle by members and campaigners who took a motion to the Trust’s AGM in Harrogate. But more than three years later hunts continue to trespass on its estates. Protect the Wild takes a look at the charity’s inaction as wildlife […]
What did it take to convict huntsman Chris Woodward?
Last month Protect the Wild reported that the Wynnstay Hunt’s serial criminal former-huntsman Chris Woodward had been convicted of hunting a wild animal with dogs in Lower Wych, Wrexham, on 14 January 2023. Evidence for the conviction had come from Cheshire Borderland Monitors volunteers who had filmed Woodward galloping down a road after his hounds […]
GUILTY: Criminal hunter Chris Woodward convicted three times since July
A court has found the Wynnstay Hunt’s notorious ex-huntsman Chris Woodward guilty yet again. Woodward is a man racking up a long criminal record. Woodward denied the charge of hunting a wild animal with dogs in Lower Wych, Wrexham, on 14 January 2023. But it was the hard work of Cheshire (Borderland) Monitors volunteers that […]
Protecting the Wild Equipment Fund #1: Cheshire Borderland Monitors
The Protecting the Wild Equipment Fund provides equipment like radios or cameras to individuals or groups who are working in the field to protect wildlife. We have asked each recipient to explain what they do and how they are using the equipment we have provided – not only to show supporters how their donations are […]
GUILTY: Huntsman Chris Woodward in court yet again
Chris Woodward, ex-huntsman for the Wynnstay Hunt, has pleaded guilty to interfering with a badger sett near Malpas, north Wales. The guilty plea comes after the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) released footage back in February 2023, showing two men escaping on a quad bike after they were confronted by sabs. The men were named as […]
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. […]
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 […]
Police are investigating the Wynnstay Hunt for interfering with a badger sett
North Wales Police are investigating two men for interfering with a badger sett. And video shows the suspects running away the moment they’re caught. Footage released by the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) on 17 February shows two men escaping on a quad bike after they were confronted by sabs. The 27-second video shows the cameraperson […]
Wynnstay Hunt supporter filmed giving nazi salute to hunt monitor
The Wynnstay Hunt’s questionable reputation reached a new low on 7 February 2023 when a prominent hunt supporter harassed a hunt monitor, repeatedly performing the Nazi salute at her. Lesley, a Cheshire Monitors volunteer, was on foot, observing and filming the hunt. Field riders blocked her way, while a man called Ian Jones continually talked […]
Mounted huntsman charges at monitor and threatens to kill him
On Saturday 7 January, the Wynnstay Hunt stooped to a new low when its huntsman threatened a Cheshire Monitors volunteer. The monitors were on the ground, preventing illegal hunting from taking place, when huntsman Chris Woodward charged his horse at one of them. The monitor was shouting the command “leave it” to the hounds to […]
Huntsman found not guilty after video dropped ‘at the eleventh hour’
Wrexham Magistrates’ Court found Chris Woodward not guilty of illegal hunting. Woodward, huntsman of the Wynnstay Hunt, was filmed behind a pack of hounds chasing a fox. But monitors say that the not guilty verdict came after the CPS dropped this evidence from the trial “at the eleventh hour”. Dropped and shocked Cheshire Monitors published […]
