Great news to hear about another sab group in Dorset / Somerset. So pleased to know that my monthly substack donation is put to such good use. If you’re reading this and yet subscribe, please do, collectively we are making a very real difference 💪
The more the merrier and welcome to Dorset where we really need you, as does Somerset! Two merciless counties for hunts! We have excellent sabs down here who work so very hard to save wildlife but as mentioned in the article, they cannot be everywhere all the time so I am sure you will receive a warm welcome from them as well as us, the anti hunt residents!
Thanks for the email. Currently I financially support the HSA . Despite comments to the contrary Trail Hunting/Fox and other animal hunting is still a problem even though their support , together with some hunts packing up and amalgamating there have been successes. I hope this new sab group get the financial support they need.
I firmly believe that people who shoot animals and birds belong in the same psychopathic , subhuman category as hunters . There must be a special place in hell for all of them .
A huge thank you to PTW and all the heroic sabs out there .
Well done to you all . I was told on Facebook for posting a pic of Bill odie ,the person said that was another one who doesn't understand the countryside. What is there to understand !!. I thought cruelty was cruelty wherever town or countryside. Keep up the great work. You are all far braver than me.
Hunting is not a big problem to the fox population! Rifle shooting using thermal technology is rife and it’s mass slaughter and persecution! That is the reason that fox numbers are at an all time low. I recon at least 500 get shot for every 1 that gets hunted so if you really want to help the fox population then you need to start changing your tactics and target pheasant shoots and rifle shooters !
Hi James. Hunting is a big problem for individual foxes within the general population, and that matters to us. Hunting is also a crime and a symptom of lawlessness in the countryside and by highlighting that we are not only supporting foxes (and deer and hares) and the front line groups that protect wildlife we are helping point out police and legislative failings (all while calling for a change in the law to better protect hunted animals - see out Hunting of Mammals Bill). We campaign against the shooting industry all the time (on Substack, our website, and on social media) and published an animation last year seen by millions of people which looked at the number of foxes killed by the shooting industry which made your exact point (if you have a link to confirm your suggestion that 500 foxes are shot for every one hunted we will gladly write about it and publish it on social media). We also make that same point about the shooting industry in posts on for example why we think licencing grouse moors is the wrong approach. We do what we can to both point out that legal protections for foxes are not adequate (see our Protectors page on Foxes and the Law), and that for example National Parks are letting down wildlife including foxes. It doesn't help that the 'mainstream media' routinely still publish nonsense about foxes - but we do our best to counter that and to support groups like rescues that are working hard to portray foxes as the essential parts of the ecosytem that they undoubtedly are. Is there more we can do? Of course, so please watch this space.
Obviously not a problem in your book !! Any animal that sufferers in anyway because of “humans” is a problem to people like us who respect and care for wildlife who by the way have every right to live their lives in peace on the God given land given to them !
I totally agree BUT ! And it’s a big BUT Shooting is killing probably 95% of foxes killed over a year so if you want to help the fox as a population which I do as they’re as good as extinct in rural areas all due to rifle shooting, then you need to change tactics ASAP as what you’re doing nowadays is failing massively! Hunts catch very few foxes it’s the greedy blood thirsty trigger happy muppets with the high power rifles and thermal optics doing all the damage they’ll shoot more in 1 night than some hunts catch in a season and that’s FACT ! So why keep sabing hunts and just let the shooters get away with it ? It just baffles me being honest!
Hi again James. Thanks for your impassioned comments. You make some good points and I understand your frustration - because everyone at Protect the Wild feels the same way (as does I assume all the monitor and sab groups and animal rights organisations out there). Allowing hunts to simply break the law is inconceivable so we will continue to support some of the most courageous people I know to stop them. I don't know every monitor and sab personally of course, but the ones I do know don't just roll out of bed on a saturday morning to take on a hunt and then forget about animals for the rest of the week: they run rescues, tackle the cull, campaign, write letters, talk to MPs etc etc - and yes sab shoots. No one is letting shooters just 'get away with it' - except of course for our current crop of useless politicians. While hunting animals with dogs is banned but still carries on, shooting of foxes is entirely legal. The landowners in Parliament and lobbyists for the agriculture and shooting industries have seen to that. People do take civil action, but bear in mind that you can be arrested for aggravated trespass if you go onto land with the aim of stopping a shoot. 'Lamping' takes place at night - activists take risks but they're not paid, highly trained armed 'soldiers' who can just stop a shooter at night in the dark on private land. They are volunteers who deserve our support. It's dangerous and when you're out there you have no idea whether some armed thug is going to play a game of 'chicken' and fire a few rounds over (hopefully) your head. The issue here is not the wrong tactics or people like us being complacent or unaware or naive. The fact is that landowners hold all the cards at the moment.. The law says they can shoot foxes on their land (or with the landowners permission). Many landowner also run shoots and want to destroy foxes. Sab groups are taking to grouse moors and pheasant shoots but are still hugely outnumbered. There are constant discussions taking place about wanting the law enforced on hunting vs breaking the law to save foxes or birds reared for shooting. Yes, progress may seem slow but twenty years ago no one even talked about this side of the shooting industry - they are talking about it now. And we have just had 14 years of a government who is not remotely interested in protecting wildlife - everyone recognises that fact and I've seen it first hand in parliamentary debates. As well as a new input of younger, more enlightened parliamentarians (who we all need to get out and vote for), two things need to change: public attitudes towards foxes and the laws that protect wildlife (laws made of course by MPs). Please believe me when I say we are working hard to achieve both - not just us but other organisations and groups of course. We all understand the problems and we are constantly looking for ways to solve them. What we won't do in the meantime, though, is allow hunts to chase and kill foxes, deer, and hares without doing something - and a part of that 'something' is equipping volunteers with tools they can use in the field. And please bear in mind that 'in the field' means many different things: stopping hunts, monitoring badger cullers, and indeed tackling shoots.
But badger culling is legal ! Before 2004 hunting was legal! But sabs still sabbed hunts pre ban and sabs are still sabbing the LEGAL badger cull but sabs do nothing about the biggest threat to the fox population that apparently they care so much about Facts are facts and rifle shooting using thermal technology is wiping foxes out and you lot do nothing about it !
James, I truly understand your frustration which I empathise with. All the wildlife killers need to be stopped and wildlife protected against all forms of persecution. If hunts were not sabbed, they would run even more riot than they currently do. Our sabs are so important to reduce and highlight what is going on in the countryside. I do understand your point but wonder what solution you might have as to achieving an attack on these shooters? Lampers are just as evil as hunts, but what is the answer?
It’s very easy to wreck a shoot ! Shoots rely on peace and quiet so the birds stay there. And same as you follow people associated with hunts it’s even easier to follow 1 man. And as for hunts by the time hunting season starts 90% of the foxes are already dead due to rifle shooting using thermal optics! When tackling a problem you start with the main culprit! Not just continually sabbing hunts that hardly ever catch any foxes ! I just don’t get it ! Or is it that you lot just don’t understand the extent of the damage these trigger happy blood thirsty scum bags do ! Just go on YouTube it’s rife ! There’s someone on every farm in the country 24/7/365. We need to campaign for seasons for foxes so they can’t shoot them while they’re breeding and leaving cubs to starve to death ! Honestly shooting is way worse than hunting in my opinion!
Please do just watch YouTube lots of people putting videos on there and for everyone putting videos on there’s 100 people doing the same without sharing what they’re doing ! Watch team foxer that’s a good start. It really winds me up massively! It’s just so easy to just wipe them out it’s a disgrace!
It is a very good point that YouTube and similar permit such violent activities to be watched by any looney, and is central to it spreading in my opinion! Perhaps that is an area for protest, but sadly these platforms just don't care, and so it spreads! Answers anyone?
Don’t make them ban it ! All this video footage will be it’s downfall in the end it need’s putting on the television a proper documentary on what actually happens on shoots and the animals killed all so the wealthy tossers in their breeks can turn up on a Saturday morning and spend hundreds of pounds so they can slaughter hundreds of birds purely for enjoyment and most of them don’t even take any home and probably wouldn’t even know how to cook a pheasant! Absolute whoppers !
I completely understand your anger James , I too hate any wanton destruction of wildlife .I'm just not sure what we could actually do about it . I fear that if our sabs tried to intervene in a shoot these psychopaths might actually kill one of them .
20 years after hunting with dogs was supposedly banned it's left to members of the public to do what the police go out of their way to avoid doing.
Great news to hear about another sab group in Dorset / Somerset. So pleased to know that my monthly substack donation is put to such good use. If you’re reading this and yet subscribe, please do, collectively we are making a very real difference 💪
The more the merrier and welcome to Dorset where we really need you, as does Somerset! Two merciless counties for hunts! We have excellent sabs down here who work so very hard to save wildlife but as mentioned in the article, they cannot be everywhere all the time so I am sure you will receive a warm welcome from them as well as us, the anti hunt residents!
Couldn’t agree more Rosemary. Warm welcome assured from the majority of rural folk in Somerset
My concern of all hunting is the pain and suffering the animals endure. It all has stop. Proper bans proper policing and proper punishments.
Thanks for the email. Currently I financially support the HSA . Despite comments to the contrary Trail Hunting/Fox and other animal hunting is still a problem even though their support , together with some hunts packing up and amalgamating there have been successes. I hope this new sab group get the financial support they need.
Well done PTW, it’s fantastic you are able to assist even more hero’s on the ground in their fight against the wildlife murderers.
I firmly believe that people who shoot animals and birds belong in the same psychopathic , subhuman category as hunters . There must be a special place in hell for all of them .
A huge thank you to PTW and all the heroic sabs out there .
It's high time the law is upheld and the hunting of foxes halted in its tracks.
Well done to you all . I was told on Facebook for posting a pic of Bill odie ,the person said that was another one who doesn't understand the countryside. What is there to understand !!. I thought cruelty was cruelty wherever town or countryside. Keep up the great work. You are all far braver than me.
fox, deer and hare hunting are all illegal under the hunting act 2004 we need to see a change with a proper ban .
Hunting is not a big problem to the fox population! Rifle shooting using thermal technology is rife and it’s mass slaughter and persecution! That is the reason that fox numbers are at an all time low. I recon at least 500 get shot for every 1 that gets hunted so if you really want to help the fox population then you need to start changing your tactics and target pheasant shoots and rifle shooters !
Hi James. Hunting is a big problem for individual foxes within the general population, and that matters to us. Hunting is also a crime and a symptom of lawlessness in the countryside and by highlighting that we are not only supporting foxes (and deer and hares) and the front line groups that protect wildlife we are helping point out police and legislative failings (all while calling for a change in the law to better protect hunted animals - see out Hunting of Mammals Bill). We campaign against the shooting industry all the time (on Substack, our website, and on social media) and published an animation last year seen by millions of people which looked at the number of foxes killed by the shooting industry which made your exact point (if you have a link to confirm your suggestion that 500 foxes are shot for every one hunted we will gladly write about it and publish it on social media). We also make that same point about the shooting industry in posts on for example why we think licencing grouse moors is the wrong approach. We do what we can to both point out that legal protections for foxes are not adequate (see our Protectors page on Foxes and the Law), and that for example National Parks are letting down wildlife including foxes. It doesn't help that the 'mainstream media' routinely still publish nonsense about foxes - but we do our best to counter that and to support groups like rescues that are working hard to portray foxes as the essential parts of the ecosytem that they undoubtedly are. Is there more we can do? Of course, so please watch this space.
Obviously not a problem in your book !! Any animal that sufferers in anyway because of “humans” is a problem to people like us who respect and care for wildlife who by the way have every right to live their lives in peace on the God given land given to them !
Great comment Lin. My views exactly.
I totally agree BUT ! And it’s a big BUT Shooting is killing probably 95% of foxes killed over a year so if you want to help the fox as a population which I do as they’re as good as extinct in rural areas all due to rifle shooting, then you need to change tactics ASAP as what you’re doing nowadays is failing massively! Hunts catch very few foxes it’s the greedy blood thirsty trigger happy muppets with the high power rifles and thermal optics doing all the damage they’ll shoot more in 1 night than some hunts catch in a season and that’s FACT ! So why keep sabing hunts and just let the shooters get away with it ? It just baffles me being honest!
Hi again James. Thanks for your impassioned comments. You make some good points and I understand your frustration - because everyone at Protect the Wild feels the same way (as does I assume all the monitor and sab groups and animal rights organisations out there). Allowing hunts to simply break the law is inconceivable so we will continue to support some of the most courageous people I know to stop them. I don't know every monitor and sab personally of course, but the ones I do know don't just roll out of bed on a saturday morning to take on a hunt and then forget about animals for the rest of the week: they run rescues, tackle the cull, campaign, write letters, talk to MPs etc etc - and yes sab shoots. No one is letting shooters just 'get away with it' - except of course for our current crop of useless politicians. While hunting animals with dogs is banned but still carries on, shooting of foxes is entirely legal. The landowners in Parliament and lobbyists for the agriculture and shooting industries have seen to that. People do take civil action, but bear in mind that you can be arrested for aggravated trespass if you go onto land with the aim of stopping a shoot. 'Lamping' takes place at night - activists take risks but they're not paid, highly trained armed 'soldiers' who can just stop a shooter at night in the dark on private land. They are volunteers who deserve our support. It's dangerous and when you're out there you have no idea whether some armed thug is going to play a game of 'chicken' and fire a few rounds over (hopefully) your head. The issue here is not the wrong tactics or people like us being complacent or unaware or naive. The fact is that landowners hold all the cards at the moment.. The law says they can shoot foxes on their land (or with the landowners permission). Many landowner also run shoots and want to destroy foxes. Sab groups are taking to grouse moors and pheasant shoots but are still hugely outnumbered. There are constant discussions taking place about wanting the law enforced on hunting vs breaking the law to save foxes or birds reared for shooting. Yes, progress may seem slow but twenty years ago no one even talked about this side of the shooting industry - they are talking about it now. And we have just had 14 years of a government who is not remotely interested in protecting wildlife - everyone recognises that fact and I've seen it first hand in parliamentary debates. As well as a new input of younger, more enlightened parliamentarians (who we all need to get out and vote for), two things need to change: public attitudes towards foxes and the laws that protect wildlife (laws made of course by MPs). Please believe me when I say we are working hard to achieve both - not just us but other organisations and groups of course. We all understand the problems and we are constantly looking for ways to solve them. What we won't do in the meantime, though, is allow hunts to chase and kill foxes, deer, and hares without doing something - and a part of that 'something' is equipping volunteers with tools they can use in the field. And please bear in mind that 'in the field' means many different things: stopping hunts, monitoring badger cullers, and indeed tackling shoots.
But badger culling is legal ! Before 2004 hunting was legal! But sabs still sabbed hunts pre ban and sabs are still sabbing the LEGAL badger cull but sabs do nothing about the biggest threat to the fox population that apparently they care so much about Facts are facts and rifle shooting using thermal technology is wiping foxes out and you lot do nothing about it !
James, I truly understand your frustration which I empathise with. All the wildlife killers need to be stopped and wildlife protected against all forms of persecution. If hunts were not sabbed, they would run even more riot than they currently do. Our sabs are so important to reduce and highlight what is going on in the countryside. I do understand your point but wonder what solution you might have as to achieving an attack on these shooters? Lampers are just as evil as hunts, but what is the answer?
It’s very easy to wreck a shoot ! Shoots rely on peace and quiet so the birds stay there. And same as you follow people associated with hunts it’s even easier to follow 1 man. And as for hunts by the time hunting season starts 90% of the foxes are already dead due to rifle shooting using thermal optics! When tackling a problem you start with the main culprit! Not just continually sabbing hunts that hardly ever catch any foxes ! I just don’t get it ! Or is it that you lot just don’t understand the extent of the damage these trigger happy blood thirsty scum bags do ! Just go on YouTube it’s rife ! There’s someone on every farm in the country 24/7/365. We need to campaign for seasons for foxes so they can’t shoot them while they’re breeding and leaving cubs to starve to death ! Honestly shooting is way worse than hunting in my opinion!
i'm going to research this James
Please do just watch YouTube lots of people putting videos on there and for everyone putting videos on there’s 100 people doing the same without sharing what they’re doing ! Watch team foxer that’s a good start. It really winds me up massively! It’s just so easy to just wipe them out it’s a disgrace!
It is a very good point that YouTube and similar permit such violent activities to be watched by any looney, and is central to it spreading in my opinion! Perhaps that is an area for protest, but sadly these platforms just don't care, and so it spreads! Answers anyone?
Don’t make them ban it ! All this video footage will be it’s downfall in the end it need’s putting on the television a proper documentary on what actually happens on shoots and the animals killed all so the wealthy tossers in their breeks can turn up on a Saturday morning and spend hundreds of pounds so they can slaughter hundreds of birds purely for enjoyment and most of them don’t even take any home and probably wouldn’t even know how to cook a pheasant! Absolute whoppers !
I completely understand your anger James , I too hate any wanton destruction of wildlife .I'm just not sure what we could actually do about it . I fear that if our sabs tried to intervene in a shoot these psychopaths might actually kill one of them .