Tell Lavender Hotels: Compassion, Not Cruelty- Cancel the Holcombe Harriers!
Lavender Hotels plans to host an event for the Holcombe Harriers, a decision they must rethink.
Lavender Hotels plans to host an event for the Holcombe Harriers, a decision they must rethink. The Holcombe Harriers are not a charming relic of rural tradition; they are a hunt long associated with cruelty, controversy, and disregard for the law. For a hospitality company that trades on comfort, community, and respectability, aligning with such a group is a profound moral and repetitional mistake.
A Record of Cruelty and Controversy
The Holcombe Harriers’ history is one of blood and denial. In 2018, Lancashire Rural Police publicly stated that a deer was killed by the pack’s hounds and investigated under both the Protection of Badgers Act and Hunting Act. The incident exposed how “trail hunting”, supposedly a legal activity, often masks the continued pursuit and killing of live animals.
Just two years later, in February 2020, it was reported from the Hunt Saboteurs Association that the Holcombe and Rockwood Harriers’ terriermen were filmed blocking a badger sett, an act of wildlife crime, while others attacked sabs. Despite clear evidence, such incidents rarely lead to prosecutions, a symptom of weak enforcement and political reluctance to confront hunting interests.
In December 2021, public opposition grew loud enough that the Holcombe’s traditional Boxing Day meet at Tottington was dropped after complaints. As Manchester Hunt Saboteurs reported, the hunt has long been “known for illegally killing wildlife.” The following year, the Lancashire Evening Post noted the hunt had quietly relocated its parade to Pleasington, a move many interpreted as a retreat from growing local resistance.
Most recently, in September 2024, Protect the Wild reported that Greene King withdrew permission for a Holcombe Harriers meet on so-called “Smokescreen Saturday”, the hunting lobby’s PR stunt of “National Trail Hunting Day.” The cancellation, made after public outcry, underscored just how bad associating with hunts has become.
Filmed by Manchester Hunt Sabs the Holcombe Harriers Hunt support become aggressive for no reason.
The Broader Pattern: Lawlessness and Suffering
These aren’t isolated incidents. They are symptoms of a culture within hunting that sees itself as above the law. The Wildlife Guardian database records that Holcombe’s troubles go back further, including a 2015 police visit to their kennels after a “bagged fox” tip-off, and a 2013 hare kill at Brindle.
National research reinforces this pattern. The League Against Cruel Sports’ Hunt Havoc Report (2022) and Protect the Wild’s Hunt Havoc campaign (2021) have documented hundreds of cases of hunts trespassing, blocking roads, endangering animals, and causing chaos. From hounds on railway lines to packs rampaging through villages, the so-called “tradition” of hunting leaves behind nothing but fear and harm.
Why Lavender Hotels Must Take a Stand
By offering a platform to the Holcombe Harriers, Lavender Hotels risks being complicit in this cruelty. It sends a message that the company is willing to overlook animal suffering and illegality for the sake of profit or misplaced notions of heritage. In reality, the majority of the British public, including most rural residents, reject hunting outright.
This is not about opposing rural life. It is about defending decency, respecting the law, and protecting wildlife. Lavender Hotels has a choice: stand with the small minority clinging to bloodsport, or stand with the overwhelming majority who value compassion and coexistence.
A Call for Compassion Over Cruelty
We cannot stay silent while companies lend legitimacy to cruelty. Lavender Hotels must be told, firmly, respectfully, and publicly, that hosting hunts is unacceptable in a modern, compassionate society.
If Lavender Hotels truly values community, kindness, and integrity, it must act now:
Cancel the Holcombe Harriers event.
Adopt a clear policy refusing bookings from hunts.
Every voice matters. Every message makes a difference.
Let’s remind Lavender Hotels that cruelty has no place in hospitality.
Together, we can make it clear that chasing and killing wildlife for “sport” has no future and that businesses which profit from it have no excuse.
It’s time for Lavender Hotels to choose compassion over cruelty.
Signed and sent!
Also signed and sent 🦊