Category: Guest posts

Guest Post: Forestry England and Fox Hunting #3 | DEFRA’s Petition Response

Posted on by

“On 10th September, Defra responded to my petition calling for an end to fox & hare hunting on public land, doing so on behalf of Forestry England . The War on Wildlife Project has already posted about this and I have a few thoughts of my own to share as well. Firstly, in defending so-called ‘trail hunting’, Defra expects us to believe it actually exists when in reality it is a farce. The examples I referred to in the petition itself were of hunts tearing foxes apart, hounds rampaging through residential areas and more. Why does Defra think these incidents happen with such regularity if hunting organisations were genuinely trying to avoid harming wildlife? Secondly, the Kimblewick Hunt ban receives a mention. Defra holds this up as an example of Forestry England taking action, but it only shows the opposite to be true.” Guest post by Jack Riggall

Continue reading

Guest Post | Forestry England & Fox Hunting #2 – the Chair’s Endorsement of Bloodsport Lobbyists

Posted on by

This second entry is just a brief outline of something that I think should be highlighted. Throughout the last hunting season, Forestry England gave out 34 ‘trail’ hunting licences. It didn’t really seem to matter what hunts did [with the exception of the Kimblewick Hunt], as hunters were at various times convicted and investigated with no apparent impact on how Forestry England considered licence applications. Part way through the season, the Forestry Commission appointed a new Chair, Sir William Worsley. The Commissioner’s Register of Interests were later published and amongst other things, the new Chairman is a member of the Countryside Alliance, the pro-bloodsports lobby group.

Continue reading

Guest Post | Forestry England & Fox Hunting #1: The Portman Hunt

Posted on by

Think fox hunting, which was banned by the Hunting Act 2004, is a ‘thing of the past’? Think again. Hunts have been breaking the law since the Act was passed – helped by sympathetic landowners who issue licences despite a wealth of material proving the terms of those licences are being routinely broken. Jack Riggall, an independent hunt monitor and anti-hunting campaigner, is writing a series of posts on fox hunts and Forestry England, the government department responsible for managing and promoting the nation’s forests. Jack has written other guest posts and recorded a number of podcasts with us.

Continue reading

Guest Post | Gamebird Shooting in Sheffield & South Yorkshire

Posted on by

“The sight and sound of a pheasant is almost ubiquitous in the fields around Sheffield and South Yorkshire. Any day out in the countryside will eventually involve the familiar coarse squawk as they dash out from the scrub. But why are they here and why do people care? There is growing unease about the presence of pheasants – and their associates, red-legged partridges – in the UK countryside. The prevalence of these birds is the end result of a deeply damaging and divisive shooting industry. Each year, more and more opponents are speaking out about the animal welfare issues and environmental impacts of this industry.” Guest Post by Adam Davies

Continue reading

Guest post | Sabbing the Un-glorious 12th

Posted on by

We’ve spent much of this week discussing the start of yet another six months of shooting grouse in the uplands. In one article we posted several images from Twitter uploaded by sabs groups, who appeared to have had a very successful day interrupting the killings. The Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) have now posted a full series of images alongside an overview of their support for the various local groups who (in some cases) made long journies up to the moorlands. But what’s it like to sab a shoot? To walk up to armed men to stop them shooting the wild birds they’ve paid to kill? One of the sabs in the Peaks has written a guest post that answers just that…

Continue reading

Guest Post | Love of upland moors soured by driven grouse shoots

Posted on by

“My love of upland moors soured when I moved to a part of the country where they seem to be used for driven grouse shoots. I used to pop up on moors looking for black grouse, stonechat, pipits, cuckoo, great grey shrike, raptors and corvids etc, and mammals like fox, weasel, stoat, hare etc. It became apparent very quickly that something was wrong, very wrong. The contrast between what I was used to and what I was now seeing was unbelievable.” Guest post by an anonymous contributor

Continue reading