In late May we were informed that investigations into illegal cubhunting by the Cotswold Vale Farmers’ Hunt and an assault on one of our sabs* at a cubhunting meet in October 2018 were dropped following a CPS decision.

*which led to her suffering whiplash for several days

On 23rd October 2018, the Cotswold Vale Farmers’ Hunt met in the area of Norton, Gloucestershire and hunted around land owned by Master of the hunt, Mike Smith. Three saboteurs from Three Counties Sabs were present on the day, two inland on foot and another in the vehicle.

Towards the end of the meet the two sabs inland could hear hounds speaking (an excited baying which indicates that they have picked up a scent and are following it) and noticed hounds and hunt riders in the field the sabs were heading towards. Huntsman Gary Williams could clearly be heard encouraging hounds on from the opposite side of the hedge that hounds were interested in and was using voice commands and horn calls consistent with ‘traditional’ fox hunting. From their position, the saboteurs present could only monitor as any noise or attempt to distract hounds could have ‘headed’ a hunted fox back into the pack. It was shortly evident that the hounds had killed, Williams heard ‘blowing the kill’ (a horn call not often heard since the Hunting Act 2004 came into force as it shows that huntsman is aware of a kill taking place and is informing the remainder of the hunt riders and the hounds of it). He was heard praising the hounds and telling them to “break him up, break him up” which means to eat the remains of the fox.

In interview we have been told that Williams, huntsman of the hunt at the time of the incident but since ‘let go’ by the hunt, said that hounds had gone off on a trail (of which no evidence was provided) and that he realised that they were spending time within the hedge. He claims to have realised that there was a fox in the hedge but that it was obvious that it had been dead for several days so he allowed them to have it and encouraged hounds to tear the body up.

Saboteurs involved on the day state that their issues with his story are as follows:

1. Gary Williams handed the remains of the fox in a plastic sack (minus intestines which were found by sabs) to another hunt rider who rode off with the bag away from sabs. This hid any evidence that would prove if the fox was several days dead or recently killed – a post-mortem could have been carried out at sabs’ expense if necessary to prove cause and time of death
   
2. a fox that was several days old at time of being ripped apart would not bleed and the intestines found by sabs were bloody and fresh, still hot and smelled of dead fox. When police arrived later the intestines had been removed but fresh and still wet blood was left where they had been along with splashes of blood on various blades of grass around the area of the kill – all evidenced by Gloucestershire police officers
   
3. a sab was assaulted whilst trying to get to the site of the kill, the perpetrator being Hunt Master Mike Smith of Prior’s Norton. Having first ridden repeatedly at her and her colleague, he then jumped off his horse and tackled her to the floor. With him distracted, the second sab made it to the kill site at which point the hunt riders moved off – if the assault occurred because sabs were trespassing, why did the trespass matter less once evidence of the kill had been found and recorded? Why assault the sab if the hunt had done nothing wrong?
   
4. if the fox had indeed been dead for several days – a ‘fact’ not accepted by sabs or police – cause of death would not have been known by the hunt. If the fox had been poisoned, remnants of the poison may still have been present in their system, putting hounds’ lives and health at risk. This wouldn’t be a massive surprise though considering the lack of care taken to protect hounds by this hunt – sabs state that the hunt are notorious for losing control of hounds, have had hounds killed on the nearby A38 in the past and have been reported by members of the public for losing stray hounds on roads and in private gardens on numerous occasions
   
5. hounds are generally not interested in dead foxes
   
6. cubhunting is the initial stage of the hunting season, running from around the end of August until the beginning of November. One of the purposes of cubhunting is to train new hounds, new hounds learning from those with experience as to what they should do when they pick up on a scent of a fox. It is a time when hounds will learn the taste, smell and sight of a fox and will learn also from the huntsman who will praise or tell them off based on their actions. Even if the fox were already dead, the huntsman’s actions in praising the hounds, telling them to “break him up” (a reward for the hounds after a successful hunt) and ‘blowing the kill’ will have taught them that ripping up a fox gets them praise, teaching them that they have done something right. Which is precisely what traditional cubhunting would achieve and set them up to do once the main hunting season arrives: chase and rip apart foxes

Gary Williams has since lost his job with the Cotswold Vale Farmers’ Hunt and is rumoured to be moving over to the Ross Harriers Hunt (who operate closer to Ross-on-Wye and share some of the same hunting country as the CVFH). In the remainder of the hunting season Gary was filmed encouraging hounds on to a fox scent by another member of Three Counties Sabs and was also suspected to be involved in the blocking of badger setts in the hunt’s country – a tactic used to prevent foxes being able to escape underground during a hunt, in contravention of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992

See also this article written in The Canary

Pleaded Guilty:

Julie Elmore
Paul Reese

Found Guilty:

Paul Oliver
Hannah Rose

Found Not Guilty:

Nathan Parry

See our full article here on the hunt

Sentencing from the South Herefordshire Hunt trial:

Conditional discharge for Julie Elmore and Paul Reece (as they pleaded guilty to a lesser charge instead of going to trial).

Suspended prison sentences of 16 weeks for Paul Oliver and 12 weeks for Hannah Rose.

In her sentencing comments the judge stated that the “hate campaign” against the defendants (people calling them up and harassing them) had affected her decision on sentencing, alongside the length of time the defendants had already had the case drawn out for before trial.

This is why defendants’ faces are blurred in pictures and names and details are not often made public before court cases – perceived “bad behaviour” by anti-hunt people can mean lesser sentences are considered for those convicted.

The judge also considered the fact that the defendants had lost their jobs and homes and were taking anti-anxiety meds due to the drawn-out process (an issue caused by pro-hunt lies regarding made-up relationships between sabs and police officers which delayed investigations).

Brief footage showing the hunts’ behaviour when they were still hunting:

The hunting fraternity are still trying to pretend that fox hunts hunt trails. The SHH were never seen laying trails before or after the arrival of Paul Oliver and we had plenty of cases where foxes were chased into badger setts.

We have put together footage of Paul Oliver out hunting when he was master and Huntsman of the South Herefordshire Hunt in the months before he was filmed taking fox cubs to the the hounds.

The first meet was a joint with the Crawley and Horsham 12th December 2015. It was a hectic day where 2 foxes were marked to ground and a dig-out was prevented by sabs. The second meet was at Kentchurch on 16th January 2016 where sabs stopped him from hunting. The third was at a children’s meet at Courtfield 16th February 2016. On this occasion hounds rioted onto deer with no one from the hunt nearby to stop them.

Please note the sound of the voice calls, holloas, very similar can be heard on the Hunt Investigation Team’s footage when hounds were taken to kennels.

Please continue to support us if you can: paypal.me/threecountiessabs

With one of our sabs urging people to get in touch with us with information in our end-of-season report, and the court case of the South Herefordshire Hunt defendants coming up, we’ve updated our website again.

While it is a brief article, this page outlines where we obtain some of our intelligence and how we deal with information and the sources we get it from. Tip-offs of any kind (about hunt meets, badger baiting, more serious and ongoing incidents, general information about individuals) all add to our ability to intervene in animal cruelty and are gratefully received!

Working with Sources article

Whether you’re openly anti-cruelty, secretly anti-hunt in your local community, involved in hunting / culling / terrierwork but against, let’s say, ‘extracurricular activities’ such as badger digging and baiting, use of bagged foxes, badger killing outside of the licenced culls, poaching and so on, we will resurrect respect confidentiality and anonymity.

3C Sabs: 07891 639803 threecountiessabs [at] live.co.uk (replace [at] with @ when emailing us)

Thank you!

The 2018/19 season started with sett-surveying new badger culling zones and old ones. Gloucestershire cull ‘zone one’ commenced culling on the 28th June 2018 with both cage trapping and free shooting. The first cage was found on 11th July (after the licences were announced on 9th July 2018) in a heat wave…

https://vimeo.com/283370090

This meant an almost daily presence in the field, checking for cull activity, right through until cage trapping stopped on 30th November 2018 and a bit beyond that until all (legal) culling finished on 15th January 2019. This was the longest government-sponsored cull in history at 6 and a half months but received barely a mention from the press. Hats off to the local groups who fight badger persecution in that zone all year round with hardly any support, especially Newent badger Alliance and West Gloucestershire Sabs – please give them a like on facebook.

We have, once again, witnessed multiple incidents of illegal fox hunting over the season. Some examples are mentioned here and some have vimeo links. We have found less blocking of setts this season than in the 2017/18 season as hunts became far more wary of being filmed and reported to the police. Our campaign against sett-blocking (in partnership with Cirencester Illegal Huntwatch) over the last few years has had an impact, with some media interest although this referred to “some monitors” rather than actually credit sab groups who did the work on the ground, compiling the spreadsheets and hours of office work which was needed to expose the practice. But we’ve had an impact, which is the important thing.

Gloucestershire Constabulary’s wildlife officers have also adopted preventative measures to stop this criminal activity. Considering that badgers were being culled in Gloucestershire zone 1 from early July 2018 until January 2019 the fact that we were finding blocked and dug-out setts in the zone during this culling period exhibits a disgraceful attitude to wildlife and biosecurity. No wonder that the bTB rates are rising within that cull zone, where the Cotswold Vale Farmers Hunt and Ledbury Hunt continue to blatantly chase foxes and dig-out at every opportunity. In the case of the Ledbury, sett-blocking continues albeit decreased in occurrence. The Ledbury also continue to hunt the South Herefordshire Hunt country with many ex-officials of that disgraced hunt in attendance at meets and wearing their hunt colours and buttons. They remain under restriction while the fox cub case goes to trial in the near future. As can be seen from the footage the Ledbury are blocking setts and blatantly fox hunting. Herefordshire Sabs also filmed them digging out a badger sett.

A separate document will be produced with Cirencester Illegal Huntwatch concerning badger sett vandalism over the summer months, all of which are already in badger cull areas or will be in the near future. Season 2017/18 blocked sett data is included herein partnership with Cirencester Illegal Huntwatch. We would like to thank all of those who have supported us with information, donations, pickups and technical support. We would urge any hunt supporter to examine their conscience, to stop supporting this cruelty and to speak out against what is, in essence, tormenting a living being for amusement. It may be that you are opposed to dig-outs, badger-sett blocking or some other aspect of hunting; if so then speak out in your own circles, refuse to tolerate it, expose it if you can find the courage to do so. Regardless, we will continue to gather evidence against illegal hunting, intervene to help the hunted and expose what is going on. Only the very naïve can now believe in the nonsensensical myth of “trail hunting”.

The following links to articles are also available for further information and we are working hard on more articles and research:

• Terrierwork article
• Artificial Earth article
• ‘Hunts vs Badgers’ article

Examples of hunting incidents over this season:

Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt (in partnership with Cirencester Illegal Huntwatch):

Monday 8th October 2018, Rodmarton – hounds stopped from hunting a fox by sab’.

https://vimeo.com/293999179

Monday 17th December 2018, Bowldon. Several blocked setts, hounds marked a fox to ground, ran onto the A4135 on several occasions, hunted through a garden in Tetbury and a sab’ was hit in the face for filming it all. The assailant accepted a caution after being questioned by Gloucestershire police (incidents 400/402/297 and 426-17/12/18)

https://vimeo.com/317698450

Wednesday 23rd January 2019, Horton Hall Farm. First drew back of farm. Fox came along hedgeline by pheasant feeders, line sprayed out and hounds came soon after picking up the scent. Master and huntsman Matt Ramsden abandoned that hunt and went off elsewhere.

https://vimeo.com/313237122

Croome and West Warwickshire Hunt:

Thursday 20th September 2018, Pirton Pool. Were found holding-up. “Holding up” is a technique adopted during cub hunting whereby hunt followers surround a small wood (for example) and purposely frighten any fox cubs back in towards the hounds. Incident number 80-S-20/9/18

Saturday 27th October 2018, Opening meet at Peopleton. Hunt trespassed in an orchard despite landowner presence. Hunted across road and blocked and dug-out a badger sett. Hounds hunted through Worcestershire Wildlife Trust land. Found digging out AE / drain but stopped by sabs. Incident 341-S-27/10/18

https://vimeo.com/297579331

Saturday 7th December 2018, hunt tip-off called in around Upton Snodsbury. Pre-hunt blocked sett – incident 310-S-8/12/18. They hunted around White Ladies Aston and crossed the A422 in very dangerous conditions to Churchill Wood. They got very defensive and were acting dodgy at Lowhill Covert and the coppice.

Sunday 27th January 2019, post-hunt sett-checking the area the hunt had been on Saturday. Dug-out sett incident no. 696-S-27/1/19.

Cotswold Vale Farmers’ Hunt:

Tuesday 23rd October 2018, the hunt met in a field near Barrow Hill Farm. Fox killed and sab’ assaulted – incident 97-23/10/18.

Tuesday 6th November 2018, CVFH opening meet at Apperley Hall Farm – split pack from the start as they rioted (“riot” is hunting an unintended quarry) on deer and got into trouble with the wildlife trust. Blocked badger sett found – incident 387-6/11/18. Within Gloucs supplementary cull zone, during the cull period.

https://vimeo.com/312402329

Tuesday 8th January 2019, at Old railway, Longhope. Two foxes came past a sab who stopped the hounds hunting them – later a fox went to ground in a badger sett and the presence of a sab with camera meant that they dispersed rather than dug-out. Incident 195-8/1/19

Saturday 26th January 2019, Byford’s Farm in Taynton. A fox went to ground in a badger sett; small stand off between sabs and hunt and the fox was left alone. Within Gloucs supplementary cull zone, during the cull period.

https://vimeo.com/313640396

Tuesday 29th January 2019, CVFH / Ledbury joint meet near Ross-on-Wye. Badger sett dug-out by terriermen – incident 88-S-31/1/19. Within Gloucestershire supplementary cull zone, during the cull period.

Saturday 2nd February 2019. The hunt were in the Apperley area – very icy, terrierman (who stank of booze) riding quad very close to sab’ being threatening – incident 283-2/2/19.

Tuesday 5th February 2019, Prior’s Norton. Fox ran through Prior Grove and a sab’ stopped the hounds; the huntsman then encouraged the hounds onto the fox and threatened the sab’. Incident 221-5/2/19

Tuesday 5th March 2019, Norton Court Farm. The hounds rioted on a herd of deer at the back of Benge’s Farm – pack stopped from continuing to hunt them by a sab’.

https://vimeo.com/321553220

Tuesday 19th March 2019, closing meet Moat farm, Sandhurst. Terriermen pulled out tyres from a large pile where a fox was hiding – the fox was then hunted by the hounds who were encouraged on by the huntsman. Two Bristol sabs who had filmed it were attacked and had their cameras stolen. A 3C sab was whipped by the huntsman when the sabs tried to stop the hounds from hunting the fox at Mussell End – incident 19/3/19

Heythrop Hunt:

Saturday 24th November 2018, near Slaughter Woods. A badger sett was found netted with masked up terriermen on it – they retreated when challenged by sabs – incident 181-24/11/18

https://vimeo.com/30353152

Saturday 9th March 2019, Sarsden. 3 blocked badger setts found, others found by local people later. Hounds ended up in sewage works. With Oxfordshire Against The Cull.

Ledbury Hunt:

Friday 2nd November 2018, Corse Lawn Hotel. Blatant fox hunting and blocked badger setts – incident 393-2/11/18. Within the Gloucestershire cull zone with the cull in progress

https://vimeo.com/312395657

15th November 2018, post-hunt sett-check as Ledbury had been at Underhill Farm on Friday 9th November and gone towards Upton. Several blocked setts found in usual haunts. Incident 251-S-15/11/18

Friday 23rd November 2018. Blocked badger setts in the Gloucestershire cull zone with the cull in progress. Incident 191-23/11/18. At Staunton coppice a fox was hunted but seen safely away by sabs

https://vimeo.com/303533140

Monday 26th November 2018, Hunter’s hall, Castlemorton. Malvern Hills Conservators out to keep an eye on the hunt. A fox was hunted by hounds on the common. After around an hour or 2 there they crossed over to Drugger’s End. Terriermen trying to put branches down entrances of a badger sett on Castlemorton Common were stopped by a sab. Opposite the church they put up 3 foxes, 2 running through gardens – most of the pack were stopped from the footpath by sabs. The third fox ran to a roadside drain and was left alone as a sab was present filming. Another badger sett found blocked – incident 589-26/11/18

https://vimeo.com/303532480

Friday 14th December 2018, Underhill Farm. On the lane running by the farm supporters were hanging around a gate and very excitedly were pointing at a fox who was crouching down trying to run towards the motorway. They were summoning the whipper-in and together they headed the fox. Attempts were made to by the huntsman to put the hounds on his line.

Monday 31st December 2018. Badger sett was blocked from Christmas Eve (when the hunt met at Pigeon House Farm in Eldersfield) but badgers had dug their way out. Incident 251-31/12/18. This was in the Gloucestershire supplementary cull zone during the cull period.

Friday 4th January 2019. The hounds were up Limbury Hill and then found a fox at Blackwell’s End Farm – a holloa was heard from a hunt follower on the road as sabs from up the hill used voice calls lifting the hounds’ heads. After second-horsing at Tweenhills, they crossed the A417 and hunted a fox through gardens at Broad Street, Hartpury. One quick thinking householder, after seeing the fox flee for his life through his garden, ran out and rated the pack of hounds away from the hunted animal. Quite a few people not very happy and asking lots of questions! Then a repeat performance as they approached Ashleworth…

Onwards then to Ashleworth Meadows where they hunted a fox towards Haw Bridge. A sab’ filmed the hunted fox from near the pub and he went to ground in a small hole – hounds tried to dig him out again as they marked but were pulled out physically by sabs. Wisely the hunt retreated, but not so wisely they then crossed the main road and hunted another fox in the dusk up to Cumberwood Farm and back down to the outskirts of Tirley, finishing finally in the dark. Another blocked badger sett was found at the end of the day. Incident 283-4/1/19. In the Gloucestershire supplementary cull zone during the cull period

https://vimeo.com/309540923

Friday 11th January 2019, Manor farm, Longdon. Terriermen noted by stickpile at Longdon Marsh. Terrier heard within pile. They stayed a long time fully masked up. Hounds then hunted a fox to Longdon where he went to ground in a badger sett. They then went to the stick pile with hounds marking it and some getting right into it. As a sab’ approached some riders tried to stop them. When sab’ dodged past them they backed off and called the hounds back. They went on towards Hill End, picking up another fox and hunting him towards Eastington Hall where hounds were successfully rated off him by local people. A fox was filmed running from hounds and she looked heavily pregnant…

https://vimeo.com/310859095

A badger sett was found blocked. They then hunted towards Upton. Sabs approached on foot to a sett, heard voices and then a quad leaving the area. Fresh human footprints were near the sett. They hunted another fox at Queenshill Manor with one man trying to head the fox away from us but they left him in some thick brambles. One little fox seen utterly exhausted after a long hunt. Incident 0542-S-11/01/19

Friday 15th February 2019, Whiting Ash Farm, Berrow. Sabs verbally threatened. 3 badger setts found blocked and one had bricks down it. At Long Covert (Queenshill) a fox was hunted out with hounds close on his tail, through Heath Hill Farm and hounds were encouraged on by the huntsman. Car wing mirror was kicked and damaged. Incident 720-S-15/2/19

https://vimeo.com/317556472

Friday 22nd February 2019, Forthampton. A badger sett found blocked – incident 166- 21/2/19. In Chaceley a fox was seen trying to cross a field with sheep and was spotted running up and down fence trying to get out (unusual for a local fox who knows where he’s going, let us put it that way!). Hounds were rated back by a sab’ but the huntsman encouraged them on

https://vimeo.com/319067498

Friday 1st March 2019, Stonebow Farm, Ashleworth. A fox was hunted away from some gorse, but came back and hounds were stopped by a sab. The huntsman tried to find the fox again but failed

https://vimeo.com/320828396

North Cotswold Hunt:

Saturday 22nd September 2018 at Wormington – the hunt went through Ryefield Farm (which had an ongoing bTB breakdown) and Wormington Grange where hounds rioted on deer and hares right by the B4632 before being stopped by hunt staff.

Saturday 29th September 2018, we found the hunt at Coronation Plantation / Buckle Street. A fox ran, a whistle was blown by supporters to indicate his sighting, we used gizmo and voice calls to intervene and they ran from us. On they went to Scarborough Pitts where they rioted on deer again, sab in field stopping them

https://vimeo.com/292544525

Saturday 10th November 2018, the hunt met at Taddington. Late afternoon they found a fox and hunted him to Welshman’s where we stopped them. The huntsman encouraged them on and they hunted across the lavender fields towards Dulverton woods where they stopped as the wood is huge and the sun was setting – incident 382-10/11/18

https://vimeo.com/303935460

Wednesday 21st November 2018, Cutsdean Farm, Cutsdean. The hunt were filmed by a Bristol sab’ as they were hunting through Guiting Quarry. At Carey’s Covert they drew a Brussell’s sprouts field and the huntsman came out quarry side on the footpath. The tail hounds suddenly picked up and a fox ran towards the gate. A man stood there wearing a flat cap and green coat who headed the fox – the fox jinked left and was killed by the pack as he tried to get through a fence. Sabs were both grabbed and stopped from filming. Incident 222-21/1118

https://vimeo.com/303671568

Wednesday 28th November 2018. The hunt had met at Mickleton at Clopton Orchard farm, and we found them at Pebworth. They went to Norton Hall, came back and killed just off Broad Marston Lane. Incident 260-28/11/18 We saw terrierman running with something, someone else picked up another bit of fox and the quad was driven into the field to help the terriermen get away – electric fencing down and not put back on. Turns out they were trespassing and put a locals’ horses in danger of straying on to the busy main road adjacent to their field

https://vimeo.com/303529964

Monday 3rd December 2018. Call regarding hounds running through sheep near Bidford. Incident 248-S-3/12/18. The hunt were found between Cleeve Prior and Bickmarsh, hounds heard marking. This continued for some time, so we suspected a dig-out. After a walk sabs came to a field where the pack were being held up by the whipper-in on his feet, huntsman mounted and the field the other side of the hedge. Three men were digging. Sabs were concerned that they may be near to getting a fox and so made their presence known. A fox ran and the hounds surged forward in full cry. The terriermen hurriedly mounted their quad and they hounds were hunted on. A badger sett with fresh spade marks, blocked entrances and a partially filled in hole was found. They hunted that fox through someone’s pond and gardens and the householder was very distressed. Incident 624-S-3/12/18

https://vimeo.com/327935253

Saturday 5th January 2019, Springhill. Fox marked to ground in an old badger sett which had entrances rammed with staves (but not recently). They gave that fox best as we were on scene.

Monday 7th January 2019. The hunt chased a fox from woods near Weston SubEdge, but hounds were called off by a sab’.

Saturday 12th January 2019, Buckland. A sab’ staked out an artificial earth and attempts were made to bully them by the Field Master. 3 foxes were seen around the area. Hounds crossed the Gloucs/Warwickshire railway line and the B4632 in pursuit of one of the foxes. They then went to Stanway and hunted a fox actually on to the Gloucestershire/Warwickshire railway where they spent 5 minutes. Through Stanton and onto the hill. Sabs got up and found 2 couple of hounds doing their own thing and hunting a deer. They were stopped with a bit of rating. They continued to hunt until dark which included rioting on more deer

Saturday 19th January 2019, Bourton Hill Farm. Artificial Earth freshly blocked with plastic sacks and stank of fox – incident 128-19/1/19. They hunted a fox from Scarborough Pits and across road to Upper Slatepits where they lost him.

Wednesday 30th January 2019, NCH with Bicester (joint meet). A hunt supporter was filmed raising his hat and hazards on car to show hunt staff where a fox had run

https://vimeo.com/318901728

Wednesday 20th February 2019, Honeybourne. A fox hunted from some hedges into a badger sett. Standoff as angry man on sett said he was landowner and pushed one sab, another sab’ was driven at. They then left without digging-out that fox. Incident 244-S-20/2/19

https://vimeo.com/318781343

VWH:

Wednesday 27th March 2019, Cotswold/VWH joint meet, Upper Rectory Farm, Daglingworth. Call out from a local and we got to them for second-horse. They went into Cirencester Park where one fox ran past 3C sab’ and one past CIHW. Hounds rated off and lines sprayed out. The huntsman hunted them on – incident 340-27/3/19

https://vimeo.com/326903089

Worcestershire:

Sunday 2nd December 2018.A sett was checked and was freshly blocked, 2 holes unblocked by sabs. On camera a man with flat cap was seen blocking – incident 579-S-2/12/18

https://vimeo.com/325661677

Wednesday 5th December 2018, Pigeon House Farm, Stock Green. Parked up at Stock and Bradley village hall. One fox seen being hunted, hounds rated back. Incident 0370-S-05/12/18. On rear dash camera an old man was seen peering through window with glasses and flat cap. On front camera a spade was filmed smashing windscreen. 2 side windows, windscreen smashed, back window smashed

https://vimeo.com/311628650

Wednesday 12th December 2018, Church Farm, Cotheridge. After picking up intermittantly they went on to Allsetts Farm where the huntsman got off his horse and was walking over a pile of rubble. Then he called for the terriermen. Sabs were there quickly enough that no terrier, drain rods or anything else were used to evict any sheltering fox. There was a bit of a standoff with terriermen

Sunday 6th January 2019, the hunt had been in the Radford area the day before. Sett blocked at every entrance, badgers had not got out. A couple of entrances cleared by sabs so that they can feed, breathe, etc. Second time that we know of this sett being blocked this season. Incident 443-S-6/1/19

Wednesday 13th February 2019. Worcestershire were due to meet at Peplars Farm, Upper Bentley, Redditch. We checked setts, one had been dug out recently – incident 676-S-13/2/19

Saturday 2nd March 2019, Lower Bentley Farm. 3 blocked badger setts. Incident 479-S-02/03/19

We have updated our article ‘Hunts vs Badgers‘ to include more videos and information and our data collected from the 2018 – 19 hunting season. Check it out by clicking the link above!

As the season winds to a close and we get out in the fields doing more sett-surveying, there is more time to go through footage from the 2018/19 season.

This video was filmed after a call out near to Cleeve Prior. Hounds had already been through a field of sheep and upset the farmer. When one of us arrived hounds were heard for a long period in the same area indicating a dig-out. The pack sounded like they were being held back so that the fox could be hunted again, shot and fed to hounds or fed live to hounds (all have been known following dig-outs).

It was as feared: the pack were near the dig-out site, the mounted field were waiting by and terriermen were seen up to no good in the woods. As the sab’ made their presence known (in the hope that they would abandon the dig-out) the pack lunged forward after what must have been the fox running from the area. They would have already got the fox out of the badger sett. The pack went on to hunt the fox through someone’s garden, upsetting the householder and those working there. It is thought that they killed this fox shortly afterwards.

The hunting season is over for us this year but we now have to focus our efforts on sett-surveying in several cull zones and working on other projects. Please continue to support us if you can: paypal.me/threecountiessabs

The RAU beagles were seen hunting a hare around Aston farm by someone out walking and it just goes to show what one person with a camera can do. Once spotted, the hunt moved away from where they had been seen actively hunting a hare and her life may well have been saved.

“I saw a hare being chased, it ran into a field of rape so I couldn’t photograph it as the rape is quite tall. I spoke with a whip, who told me they had been invited onto Aston Farm. When I saw them the whip and dogs were on a public footpath, but as I approached with my phone camera, the whip dodged onto the field, ie he was then on private land. However, one of the photos clearly shows him and dogs on the public footpath. I walked on and spoke to an elderly farming type who was carrying a long whip (not in hunt dress), I asked him where the trail layer was, and he said something like we don’t have one of them, haha”.

Aston farm is part of Princess Anne’s Gatcombe estate and is signed up for the badger cull. The land is either owned by Zara and Mike Tyndall or they are allowed to live there by Zara’s mother, Princess Anne.