Tiverton Council says hunt meets are not welcome
In this mid-December fox hunting update, the UK’s animal rights community is bracing itself for an intensified fight in 2026. Labour is promising that the long-awaited public consultation on hunting will take place early in the New Year. We can expect to see a pro-hunt pushback as a result.
As the debate on a tightened hunting ban draws closer, councillors in Tiverton have voted in favour of a motion declaring that meets by the Tiverton Foxhounds would not be welcome in the town.
On top of that:
- Direct action by South Norfolk Hunt Saboteurs stopped the Essex and Suffolk Hunt from killing a fox. Check out their video below.
- North London Hunt Saboteurs brought MP Neil Duncan Jordan out to observe the Grafton Hunt, so he could get a first-hand look at the ugly face of fox hunting.
- Cumbria Police have arrested four more people, after a video of Coniston Foxhounds digging out fox and throwing her to a pack of hounds went viral. The total number of people arrested now stands at 16.
Meanwhile, hunts are still causing mayhem across the UK, a riderless hunting horse caused chaos on a Yorkshire road at the start of December and police in Lincolnshire have advised that ‘trail hunters’ should take road safety courses after reports by the public of hunts behaving dangerously on public highways . Find out more below.
Tiverton councillors vote in favour of ‘Boxing Day meet not welcome’ motion
Councillors in Tiverton, Devon, have voted-in a motion saying that the annual Boxing Day hunt by the Tiverton Foxhounds will not be welcome this year. They went one step further and declared that “the Hunt Meet is not welcome in Tiverton on Boxing Day, or any other day.”
The Tiverton Foxhounds Boxing Day fiasco, which takes place annually outside Tiverton’s Half Moon pub, is just one of the UK’s notorious 26 December hunt meets. Boxing Day is one of the most important days of the year for hunts, and is notorious for drunkenness by hunt members, road havoc and violence. In 2022 one of the Eggersford Hunt’s quad bikes hit a hunt saboteur and the same day 17 tyres were slashed, in an effort to prevent wildlife defenders from disrupting the Boxing Day hunt event. Protect the Wild’s Eliza Egret wrote:
“Boxing Day is the biggest day of the year for hunts across the country. Hunt staff will don their ridiculous attire and parade in villages and towns, blocking streets. Their supporters will cheer at them and get drunk, while the hunts will then go off to terrorise foxes, hares and deer in the nearby countryside.”
Campaigners have, for many years, been calling on local councils not to support Boxing Day meets by local hunts, with many notable successes.
In the run-up to the vote well-known British naturalist Chris Packham made this strident statement against the Tiverton meet. It was read out by Independent Councillor Steve Bush prior to the vote:
“Do you want the disgraceful spectacle of ethically and morally bankrupt sociopathic savages from a bygone age besmirching the reputation of your town at a time when we are all trying to celebrate life?”
Tiverton Town Council’s Motion is, unfortunately, purely symbolic and won’t have any legal basis. It does, however show the depth of anti-hunt feeling in Devon. Its also a harbinger of things to come, Tiverton councillors were emboldened in taking their stand by the upcoming public consultation on a proper ban on trail hunting, planned for early 2026.
The motion was proposed by Tony Wheeler, who is a member of Local Independents for Tiverton (LIFT) along with Bush. LIFT campaigns against fox hunting in the town and the surrounding area. Wheeler said that a vast majority of the local people that he had spoken to wanted an end to hunt meets in Tiverton. He told the BBC:
“When we were out asking the public what they wanted us to do if elected, the hunt being unwelcome in our town came up again and again.”
Displaying typical arrogance, the Tiverton Foxhounds announced that the Boxing Day meet and future hunt meets will be going ahead regardless of the council vote. The British Hounds Sports Association weighed-in on the side of the Foxhounds in the national press (no surprise there!).
LIFT has since called a protest against the Tiverton Foxhounds Boxing Day meet.
Protect the Wild’s Rob Pownall commented:
“Tiverton Town Council has finally said out loud what a lot of residents have felt for years: the Boxing Day meet and any other hunt parade in the town centre is not welcome.
These aren’t harmless festive gatherings. They’ve brought intimidation, disruption and the normalisation of cruelty right into the heart of the community. If the Tiverton Foxhounds turn up anyway, they’re not honouring ‘tradition’ they’re ignoring the clear democratic will of the town. So it’s good to see there will quite rightly be protest.”
At Protect the Wild, we support the efforts of people in Tiverton to get rid of this vile event. We encourage people to organise protests and campaigns in their local area against the Boxing Day hunt.
If you live in a town where a Boxing Day hunt meet is taking place you can order stickers and fliers from Action Against Foxhunting here.
Fox escapes, as Essex and Suffolk Hunt are outflanked by saboteurs
South Norfolks Hunt Sabs (SoNo), South Suffolk Hunt Sabs, Norwich Hunt Saboteurs, Hertfordshire Hunt Sabs and Suffolk Action for Wildlife, showed once again that direct action has the capacity to save lives.
On 29 November the Essex and Suffolk Hunt (ESH) met at ‘Dairy Farm’, which is home to ESH huntmaster James Buckle. The hunt was joined by former-Tory MP Sir Gerald Howarth, who was clearly not overly concerned about blatantly hunting mammals with hounds, over twenty years since the Hunting Act made it illegal.
Sabs followed the ESH’s pack into Semer Wood. The hunt were intent on killing foxes from the get-go, with no attention given to maintaining a facade of lawful ‘trail hunting’. Huntsman Jack Henty soon began ‘burring’, making a tongue-rolling sound intended to flush foxes out from their hiding places. Sabs followed on foot, despite efforts by ESH hunt security to stop them. The paid goons alleged the sabs were trespassing. SoNo wrote on their Substack:
“We had the usual busybodies telling us we were on private land. For the record, the laws on trespass aren’t so straightforward when challenging a blatantly criminal activity like fox hunting.”
Its a good job that SoNo ignored the hunt security’s instructions! The woods soon rang out with the horrible sound of hounds in cry, signifying that the dogs had picked up a scent. The wildlife defenders did their best to throw the pack off the trail with voice calls.
The group released a photo on their Facebook page showing a sab running in between the hounds and a fox, trying to frustrate the pursuit. The ploy paid off and the fox managed to dive into a badger sett to take cover. SoNo members caught up with the pack as the dogs were scrabbling around the entrances to the sett, with Henty watching idly-by. The sabs shooed the pack away from the sett and eventually the Hunt gave up and the fox escaped. SoNo commented:
“Maybe on hearing our shouting, the huntsman decided to gather the hounds and move on.”
That seems pretty likely, as Henty is by no means a stranger to problems with the law. Earlier this year he narrowly evaded conviction on two counts of illegal hunting. The case was dismissed after the Crown Prosecution Service failed to disclose a key document to the defence.
SoNo reflected on the Facebook page that their members were “in the right place at the right time” to help the fox escape.
The timely actions of wildlife defenders on 29 November show that, while the government dithers over imposing a new hunting ban, we need the direct action of hunt saboteurs more than ever. The law isn’t saving lives, sabs are.
Donate to help South Norfolk Hunt Saboteurs keep on disrupting the likes of the Essex and Suffolk Hunt.
Sabs and monitors are British wildlife’s first line of defence in the face of cruel, murderous hunts. Find out how to join your local group of hunt saboteurs.
South Norfolk Hunt Saboteurs filmed the saving of the fox at Semer Wood using a bodycam bought with the help of the Protecting the Wild Equipment Fund. The fund was set up in Summer 2023 to help put ‘eyes in the field‘, empowering people to stop hunting with hounds, tackle bird shooting, and halt the badger cull. Contact us to apply to the fund, or click here to contribute and support grassroots groups to keep the hunts on the back foot.
MP Neil Duncan-Jordan accompanies sabs as they disrupt the Grafton Hunt
North London Hunt Saboteurs (NLHS) took Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan to see the ugly truth of so-called ‘trail hunting’. The Grafton Hunt, sadly, didn’t disappoint. NLHS published a video of what they witnessed, It shows racist abuse levelled at hunt saboteurs, foxes chased in flagrant breach of the Hunting Act, intimidation of wildlife defenders, havoc on the road caused by the hounds and a muntjac deer caught up in the violence:
Neil Duncan-Jordan is a key parliamentary opponent of fox hunting, who chairs ‘The New Hunting Ban‘, a group of MPs, experts and public supporters of a reinforced ban on ‘trail-hunting’. TNHB is committed to delivering “a watertight ban on hunting with hounds”.
Duncan-Jordan accompanied NLHS sabs on 29 November, along with a journalist from the Observer, to a meet of the Grafton Hunt at Wappenham in Northants.
One might have thought that, with a MP and a journalist from the national media in-tow, the Grafton might have been on their best behaviour, not so! Duncan-Jordan was soon subjected to personalised taunting from the Grafton. NLHS wrote on their Facebook page:
“[The Hunt] were especially keen to keep tabs on our MP. Several hunt supporters became quite abusive to Neil Duncan-Jordan MP, as well as our members. One hunt supporter made an ageist remark to Neil that he “looks like a pensioner” and “should be at home.”
It must be mentioned that Neil did approach a number of hunt members to ask for their account as to what was going on. The hunt members refused to engage positively. Instead making further childish remarks. Strange behaviour for people apparently engaged in “lawful activity.”
On top of abusing an MP, arrogant and bigoted Grafton members were caught on camera loudly commenting “I don’t like Black people”, in the presence of Black wildlife defenders. This incident has been reported to Northamptonshire Police.
The Grafton’s hounds were captured on video, out of control and darting in front of vehicles. As the hunt got underway a fox can clearly be seen being chased. In fact a total of three foxes were chased that day, with not even an attempt at maintaining a facade of following a trail. Thankfully, no foxes were killed. NLHS members were able to help at least one fox to escape by slowing the hounds’ pursuit.
Later on, the Grafton’s hounds ‘rioted’ onto a frightened muntjac deer (’rioting’ is the term used on occasions when hunting dogs target an animal which happens to cross their path). The terrified creature ran into a wire fence and got caught, having to be freed by NLHS members and the huntsman. However, the huntsman’s rough treatment in disentangling the animal appears from the video to have caused deep lacerations on the unlucky deer.
True to form, the Hunt showed watchful eyes that they were happy to trespass too in the pursuit of their barbaric bloodsport. The Grafton took their horses and hounds into Forestry England (FE) owned Plumpton Wood. FE banned ‘trail hunting’ on their lands in 2020, but hunts across the UK regularly do it anyway.
By hosting a journalist and a member of parliament, NLHS were aiming to unveil the true face of trail hunting in 2025. Members of the Grafton didn’t disappoint. The group wrote:
“Well done Grafton, you showed your true colours on the one day you really should have stayed at home yourselves.”
Its no surprise that the Grafton Hunt demonstrated a thuggish contempt for wildlife, the Hunting Act and the public on 29 November. This behaviour isn’t out of the ordinary, its the norm. We need a workable ban on hunting mammals with dogs to put a stop to this cruelty once and for all.
Donate to North London Hunt Saboteurs to help them keep on foiling the Grafton’s attempts to terrorise London wildlife.
For more information on the law around hunts trespassing please visit our Protectors of the Wild page ‘Trespass and the Law’.
More arrests in the Coniston Foxhounds case
Six more arrests have been made after the Coniston Foxhounds were filmed digging-out a badger-sett in the Lake District, pulling out a terrified fox and throwing her to the hounds. This brings the total number of people arrested to 16.
Fox dug out of badger sett by Coniston Foxhounds and thrown to the hounds - courtesy of Lake District Hunt Saboteurs.[/caption]
Some of the arrests took place in the Powys area of Wales and were conducted by Cumbria Police with the help of Dyfed-Powys constabulary. The police have now identified that the dig-out on the 8 November took place during a joint meet by Cumbria’s Coniston Foxhounds and the Teme Valley Hunt, based in Knighton in Powys.
A ‘pattern of cruelty’
Video of the brutal killing on 8 November went viral after it was released by Lake District Hunt Sabs and the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA).
Protect the Wild’s Charlotte Smith wrote at the time:
“the video is yet another brutal reminder that so-called “trail hunting” is nothing more than a convenient lie, a smokescreen for the continued persecution of wildlife.”
She continued:
“The images are difficult to watch: the exhausted fox, cornered and trembling underground; the terrier men digging relentlessly; and then, the unthinkable, the animal hauled out and tossed into a baying pack of hounds.
This isn’t a one-off. It’s part of a pattern of cruelty that has become all too familiar. In 2023, footage from the disgraced Avon Vale Hunt showed almost identical scenes, a fox dug out, thrown to hounds, another fleeing in terror. How many times must we see the same horror before something changes?”
The HSA has pointed out that the evidence of the Teme Valley Hunt’s involvement in this bloody dig-out in the Lake District is further proof that “hunts are working together in a national conspiracy to commit wildlife crime on a weekly basis.”
The Lake District dig-out was just one more brutal reminder of the true face of fox-hunting. The highly public release of the video and the arrests are a big setback for pro-hunt advocates, coming as they do in the run up to the government’s long awaited public consultation on a workable ban on ‘trail-hunting’.
Please support the vital work of Lake District Hunt Sabs.
Whatever the government does or doesn’t do next year, sabs and monitors will remain our frontline of defence against the murder of our wildlife. Find out how to join your local sab group here.
Police advise hunts to get road safety training
Following reports from hunt saboteurs, wildlife monitors and members of the public, Lincolnshire Police have decided to advise hunters who cause havoc on the roads to take road safety courses. Meanwhile, the chaos generated by hunts continues. In Yorkshire, panic broke out in late November as a riderless hunting horse ran out of control across a busy highway.
Lincolnshire Police told the BBC that they had made their decision to advise hunters to take road safety courses after their officers had witnessed “horrendously dangerous behaviour” from local hunt groups. They also said they were receiving an “increasing number of road safety complaints” about fox hunts.
On 4 December, local media showed images provided by local hunt saboteurs of hunts causing havoc on the road.
Riderless horse causes chaos
Meanwhile, East Yorkshire Coast Hunt Saboteurs reported that a hunting horse, who was in the road without her rider, was involved in an incident with a driver near the Black Bull pub close Thornton-le-Dale. They are appealing for witnesses to get in touch. They wrote on their Facebook page:
“The hunt have no respect for anyone else other than themselves. They’ll charge across busy roads to pursue a fox!”.
At the end of November Protect the Wild documented numerous incidents from across England of hunts causing chaos on the roads, disrupting schools, rampaging through a nature reserve and hunting through a graveyard where mourners come to pay respects to the dead. All of this shows the cold, entitled arrogance that hunts show toward the public.
Offering hunts road safety courses unfortunately isn’t going to solve the problem. We need a workable ban and we need to support the sabs and monitors who keep tabs on the hunts on a daily basis.
Support East Yorkshire Coast Hunt Saboteurs.
This year Protect the Wild has launched a powerful new website: HuntHavoc.info which aims to expose the law-breaking, the chaos, and the carnage hunts are causing across Britain — and to help the public take action.
Use Protect the Wild’s automated tool to email your MP and demand a proper ban on hunting.
Image of hound and saboteur and video from Semer Woods both courtesy of South Norfolk Hunt Saboteurs. Video and photo of MP observing the Grafton Hunt thanks to North London Hunt Saboteurs. Images of Coniston Foxhounds dig-out via Lake District Hunt Saboteurs. Image of the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt’s altercation on a public road via North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs.
Many thanks to all the groups that gave us permission to use their pictures. We know that wildlife defenders go to great lengths and sometimes put themselves at considerable personal risk to get this footage. We see you and appreciate you!
Well bloody done Tiverton C.C.. 💪🥰 Xxx
Great news now we need a ban asap.