Fox saved from the Wynnstay hunt

Hit report 9/12/21
Fox saved from the Wynnstay hunt!

Another early start for North Wales Hunt Saboteurs as we headed out early doors to try find the Flint and Denbigh hunt who like to sneak out on foot on a Thursday. Unfortunately it would appear that they may have gone out at silly o’clock as we couldn’t locate them. After checking out a few areas we know they go we decide to join our friends Cheshire Hunt Saboteurs Liverpool Hunt Sabs and Cheshire Monitors who were at a meet of the Wynnstay hunt at Tushingham Hall not far from Whitchurch.

We arrived at Tushingham Hall around 12.15. The hunt didn’t set off until 12noon, and sabs were already on them when we arrived and monitors had strategically placed themselves where they knew the hunt were likely to hunt foxes. As we drove around the area trying to get eyes on tbe hounds the footsabs from Cheshire and Liverpool were all over hunt, at one point even being up to their chests in water! It must be said it wasn’t a great area to be hosting a hunt meet with the A49 on one side and the A41 on another side, nevertheless the hunt then came out the fields right onto a main road, the whipper-in Reardon recklessly galloping up the road, fortunate for him he’s a long streak….. so his head was visible high over the headgrows.

The hunt didn’t seem to have an answer to us, they rode around mostly in figures of eight but couldn’t shake us. It didn’t seem like a typical Wynnstay hunt, they couldn’t go on the run from us and weren’t as aggressive as usual. We hadn’t heard a peek out of the hounds all day, but when the hunt got the the mostly Northerly point of the meet that soon changed. It was at this area the monitors had placed themselves as the hunt rode straight towards them, literally! Almost knocking a monitor and one of our sabs to the ground, if they hadn’t have jumped out the way just in time. The hunt had left a few hounds behind as they rode off, these hounds were particularly interested in a covert and started to speak at they picked up on a scent. The huntsman and the whip had now gone out of view over the brow of a hill. With sabs and monitors attempting to get the hounds out of the covert a fox bolted from in there and across a field. At this point we had to intervene, sabs now wanted to keep the hounds in the covert away from where the fox had gone! The foxes line was covered with citronella as we kept the hounds back. But at this point the rest of the pack came running over the brow of the hill and towards the direction the fox had run. Our yells at the huntsman to call the hounds back were ignored. Thankfully more sabs were now on scene and were able to take control of the pack of hounds using a gizmo diverting them away from the line of the fox and leaving the huntsman and whipper-in to gather them up. Somewhere in the middle of all this one sabs had lost her boots and continued to sabs in just her soaking socks!

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The hunt went down the road but then turned back on themselves, we thought they’d put the hounds back into the area the fox was so we stood in front of the gate and said sorry not today! The hunt moved off across some absolutely soaked fields before deciding to call it a day before they’d even got back to the meet point at Tushingham Hall. The huntsman now on foot thd whipper-in and the terrier men weren’t very please as we waited with them until the hound van turned up to take them away!

In a time when some police forces seem to be taking hunting a little more seriously it’s worth noting that despite numerous call to the police not a single officer attended!