Category: Hunting News

The British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) has hosted a second demonstration of trail hunting, open to all supporters and opponents of the sport. With the Fernie Hunt and South Notts Hunt in attendance, the event in Leicestershire demonstrated how hunts are following the letter of the law in their preparations for every hunt day and showed trail hunting working successfully. Oliver Hughes, managing director of the British Hound Sports Association, said: “We have to be open and show our sport to anyone with an interest, whether they are opposed to…

The Countryside Alliance’s annual Newcomers’ Week received fantastic support when it returned to the hunting calendar between 21 and 28 October 2023. This initiative, which was supported by the British Hound Sports Association, saw hunts across the country welcoming those new to hunting and giving them an insight into the joys of following hounds, whether that was mounted or on foot. A number of packs held specific newcomers’ events for the first time this year, with some also opening kennels for a tour to show how the hounds are kept.…

The Countryside Alliance has vowed to take action to ensure that its members are not discriminated against after it was revealed that hunts have been excluded from taking debit and credit card payments by a financial services company as the much-publicised Nigel Farage de-banking saga continues. Hunts that have been using SumUp, a card reader provider, have even had their devices switched off mid-way through fundraising events, with financial implications for those packs that have had their facilities withdrawn. In some incidents hunts were raising money for charitable causes when…

The Countryside Alliance is delighted to launch the Action for Hunting initiative, which recognises the threats facing hunting but highlights how hunts and hunt supporters can take action to help secure hunting with hounds for generations to come.  At the Alliance’s Westminster Hunting Briefing held in June, Lord (Nicholas) Soames, Baroness (Ann) Mallalieu and other distinguished speakers warned of the imminent political threats facing hunting, the changes that are necessary to help fight off further restrictions and the route to securing a sustainable future for hunting with hounds for decades…

Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill: “This process has taken over seven years and is both unjustified and unnecessary ”Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill: “This process has taken over seven years and is both unjustified and unnecessary.” The Scottish Government’s move to license the use of packs of dogs for fox control in Scotland has been branded ‘unjustified and unnecessary’ by the Scottish Countryside Alliance. The Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill, passed by MSPs today, will mean that farmers and wildlife managers who use more than two dogs to find and…

Residents have reported a number of cars were left damaged during a New Year’s hunt meet in Hornby, Lancaster, yesterday (Monday 2nd January). Vandals appear to have scraped keys or another sharp object along car doors parked while owners attended the meet. The meet had attracted hundreds of local people, who had gathered outside The Royal Oak pub on Main Street to see off hounds and horses before a trail hunt in the surrounding area. A small group of anti-hunt protestors had also been spotted near the meet’s starting point. …

A team of community volunteers, organised by the Meynell and South Staffs Hunt, banded together to clean up graffiti left by anti-hunting activists on a bridge which runs across the Blithfield Reservoir, near Burton. Prior to the clean-up operation, both sides of the bridge had been daubed with anti-hunting slogans. Using what appeared to be spray paint, vandals scrawled ‘Hunting Scum ** off’ along both sides of the bridge, which runs over the 790-acre reservoir, which is a site of special scientific interest. Rural campaigning organisation the Countryside Alliance called…

A hunt saboteur has been found guilty of assault by beating an 81-year-old man after a trial at Weymouth Magistrates Court. Alexandra Dennis, the saboteur, was fined £959, for the violent incident which took place on a country lane near to the village of Holnest in Dorset on the 18th December last year. The Blackmore & Sparkford Vale Hunt had been out trail hunting that day when they were set upon by a group of camouflage wearing hunt saboteurs.  A video taken of the shocking assault shows Dennis striking an elderly…

Yet another attempt to ban a popular festive day meet in Suffolk has failed after councillors dismissed a petition demanding it was prevented from going ahead. The petition was debated by Bungay Town Council, Suffolk, on Thursday 17th November, after signatories called on councillors to take a position on the popular annual event. Organised by an anonymous group, the petition contained a large number of signatures from outside the local area and county, with some signing from as far away as Canada and the United States. It stated: “We [the undersigned]…

Tribunel wins over the judges to take first prize in Ri-Dry RoR’s Hunting Challenge In another example of the lengthy, active and fulfilling second careers that racehorses go on to enjoy after they finish racing, first prize in this year’s Ri-Dry RoR Racing to Hunting Challenge went to the 18-year-old gelding, Tribunel. After the judging panel had reviewed entries for the challenge from all over the country, six chosen finalists gathered on Saturday 5th November for a day’s hunting with the Kimblewick. Of the six former racehorses in contention, the horse that…

Kimblewick Hunt launch community fightback against rural crime On 3rd October, the Kimblewick Hunt held the first of a series of Network Farming Forums, with farm security, rural crime, and fly-tipping as discussion topics.  Thames Valley Police, a small number of suppliers of security gates and CCTV systems, and over 40 farmers from the area attended the forum, which was held at Cholsey Grange Farm in Ibstone, Bucks.  Ted Howard Jones, who also serves as the Kimblewick’s unofficial Marketing & Technology Manager, came up with the idea to help the…

The Cheshire Hunt has kicked-off their trail hunting season having raised over £2250 for various charitable causes this year. Throughout the past year, hunt supporters have been fundraising for a number of charities, supporting causes dear to many of their hearts including Riding for the Disabled (RDA), Macmillan Nurses and the North West Air Ambulance.  The fundraising began with a very popular cookbook that collated recipes from hunts all over the world, compiled by subscriber Rachel Cooke. Sales from the cookbook raised £500 for the RDA. Rachel and her husband,…

Five hunt saboteurs have (Monday, 5th September) been handed suspended custodial sentences at Leicester Magistrates’ Court after being convicted of public order offences. The group, who call themselves the ‘Stockport Monitors’, used “threatening behaviour” toward three victims, including a 15-year-old girl. The men, aged between 21 and 47, travelled from the North West to the Cottesmore Hunt in Oakham on 29th January 2022. The court heard they are part of a group that “targets” hunts. They were “extremely aggressive” and the victims felt “intimidated by their behaviour”. The court heard…

Rural campaigners have criticised a hunting survey linked to a controversial review of the activity in North Wales for containing ‘glaring deficiencies’. The survey is reported to have made incorrect claims about hunting law in the UK, despite being approved for publication by the Police Crime Commissioner for North Wales. The Countryside Alliance has written to North Wales’s Police Crime Commissioner, Andy Dunbobbin, expressing serious concerns over the transparency and format of the survey, which is running online via the commissioner’s own website. The Alliance has raised questions about the…

South Notts Hunt help rescue horses from burning fields Hunt staff from the South Notts Hunt rushed to assist their local community in helping rescue horses from burning fields on Tuesday, 19th July. Horses and ponies grazing in fields in Blidworth, Nottinghamshire, were rescued after an urgent cry for help was issued by Haywood Oaks woodland just after 4pm on Tuesday. The blaze was reported to be moving quickly and as fire services were also in attendance, farmers were being called upon to help dig a trench as a fire break, to…

“Lucky to be alive,” says doctor after anti-hunt activist trampled by horse 37-year-old factory worker Sam Morley of Staffordshire Hunt Saboteurs was monitoring an illegal fox hunt in the Shropshire area on 15th January 2022 when he was trampled by one of the horses from the hunt. As a result, he was hospitalised and was told by Doctors that he was “lucky to be alive”. West Midlands ambulance service were called to the scene at 3.16pm on Saturday 15th January 2022 after receiving reports of an incident where a person…