HUNT VIOLENCE: Phone smashed into sab's face
Blamckmore and Sparkford Hunt involved in assault - AGAIN
This week saw yet more hunt violence as a saboteur was smashed in the face with a mobile phone and then trodden on by a horse.
North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs were sabbing the infamous Blackmore and Sparkford Vale (BSV) on 10 December when they were faced with intimidation. The group reported:
"A sab filming from a footpath was struck in the face twice with a mobile phone (yes, a mobile!), knocked to the ground and stood on by the horse. The perpetrator, the host of the meet!"
The host was a woman called Sophie Tuffin (pictured above), who was reported for assault. The sabs continued:
"Not long after another sab was physically removed two feet (yes two feet!) from a gateway along Puxey Lane! All this no doubt to conceal what this hunt is doing, which is fox hunting however they dress it up! In fact, the huntsman, whip and terriermen were at this time messing in a hedge with hounds!"
The sabs went on to explain:
"one sab, finding a footpath adjacent, was keeping an eye on terriermen lurking by a ditch. The huntsman brought the hounds over and put them into a thick hedge, where they immediately went into full cry and seemed to be marking to ground, scrambling all over the thick brambles.
At this point riders assaulted the sab while the hunt master looked on and said well done everybody. Police were called and this had the immediate effect of sending the hunt fleeing, no doubt saving the fox trapped in the hedge."
Assaulting saboteurs is not a new tactic for the BSV. In April 2024, Charlie Mayo, son of hunt master Anthony Mayo, was found guilty of assaulting a hunt saboteur and causing actual bodily harm (ABH). The saboteur was so badly injured that he was hospitalised. The assault, which North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs described as “unprovoked” and “cowardly”, took place back in December 2021. A jury at Bournemouth Crown Court unanimously found Mayo guilty, but he escaped going to prison.
Charlie Mayo, son of hunt master Anthony Mayo, harasses North Dorset Sabs on 10 December 2024. Photo by the sabs
Hounds running loose in a nature reserve
Dorset Hunt Monitors, who were on the ground with North Dorset Sabs on 10 December, called the day "chaos and mayhem". The monitors filmed the BSV hounds hunting a private nature reserve in fading light without the huntsman or other hunt staff. North Dorset Sabs believe that the hounds were allowed to hunt alone so that the BSV could plead that any fox killed was purely an accident.
Out of control hounds are nothing new for the BSV. Just a couple of weeks ago, we reported on hounds running rampage in a residential garden, chasing and killing a fox. Terriermen then trespassed to grab the dead fox's body parts, presumably to remove evidence. Hunt master Vicky Heal completely downplayed the horrific event when she was captured on the house's door surveillance camera saying, “Sorry the hounds popped into your garden".
Dorset police needs to take action
Some weeks ago, North Dorset Sabs reported that the BSV has received a Community Protection Warning. But Dorset Hunt Monitors argue that this is not enough. The monitors stated:
"It's unbelievable that after all the disruption and illegality the BSV commit there's still no action from Dorset Police to issue a Community Protection Notice against the hunt."
In its election manifesto, the Labour government promised that it would strengthen the Hunting Act. Protect the Wild argues that the government urgently needs to keep its promise and get rid of ALL loopholes in the Act. Police need to finally take hunting offences seriously, ensuring that hunts like the BSV are immediately punished. It’s time to consign the hunting of wildlife to the history books once and for all.
Support North Dorset Hunt Sabs! You can donate to the group bearing the brunt of the BSV's wrath here.