Helping monitor Dorset's hunted wildlife

And helping the monitors themselves too.

It sometimes strikes us as ridiculous that twenty years after the Hunting Act banning hunting with hounds came into force, the country’s wildlife still needs groups like Dorset Hunt Monitors to protect them.

But wildlife most certainly still does need to be protected. Especially in parts of the country where hunting by the likes of the Blackmore & Sparkford Vale (BSV) Hunt has carried on as if the ban was never enacted and where attitudes to wildlife amongst the hunting set have barely evolved.

What has evolved though is the technology that monitors and sabs need to stay safe from hunts and their supporters and to get sufficiently high-quality evidence that it not only acts as a disincentive to the would-be wildlife criminals but could also be useful to prosecutors.

That technology costs money, which is where we come in! Many groups are run by volunteers. It can easily cost them £50/day just to get to a hunt meet, follow the hunt all day, and then get home again. Buying expensive body cams and camcorders is hard enough, but getting hold of thermal imagers (like the one we were able to send to Derbyshire Against the Cull last week) and drones (which Dorset Hunt Monitors needed) is beyond the reach of many.

Now, we are not going to claim that we bought Dorset Hunt Monitors a drone as that would be inaccurate. What we did was react when we were asked if we could help the group reach a target they’d set themselves in an online appeal. Of course we could, and a few days later we ‘topped’ up the appeal and we’ve been promised any reports back when the drone has seen ‘action’ in the field…

Whip from the notorious Blackmore & Sparkford Vale Hunt. Image Dorset Hunt Monitors

The group sent us this message to post…

“Dorset Hunt Monitors would like to thank Protect the Wild for their support in helping us buy much-needed new equipment which will be used to monitor the activities of hunts in Dorset and Somerset.

Our small team of volunteers has been monitoring both foxhound and beagle packs for many years and during that time we have worked closely with others to expose the cruelty and chaos that hunts bring to our local countryside, particularly the notorious BSV hunt who we monitor regularly.

None of this would be possible without the support of local residents who provide invaluable information relating to hunts in our area.

But with this additional help and support of Protect the Wild we will now be able to use even more resources to gather evidence of the illegal hunting of both foxes and hare in Dorset and for that assistance, we are very grateful.

Dorset Hunt Monitors can be found on Facebook and we are also on Twitter (X) under the name Dorset Hunt Monitor."

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We regularly thank our own supporters when we write posts like this. And we mean every word when we do. This year alone we have provided groups with over £10,000 worth of funding - that money comes from supporters. entrusted to us to spend with the due diligence it deserves.

We - us, you, the groups we support - are making a genuine difference, out in the field where it is needed. So, thank you. Every single one of you.

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