If those coursing hares with packs of scent hounds (beagles and bassets) were treated the same way as those who course with sight hounds (lurchers, greyhounds, Salukis) the former would stop hunting overnight.
Both practices are completely illegal ๐ค
New sentencing guidelines for hare coursing were introduced on 1 June. The most serious hare coursing offences now carry a custodial starting point of 18 weeks. But they fail to properly tackle a bloodsport that sees hares relentlessly chased and killed by dogs.
New sentencing guidelines for hare coursing were introduced on 1 June. The most serious hare coursing offences now carry a custodial starting point of 18 weeks. But they fail to properly tackle a bloodsport that sees hares relentlessly chased and killed by dogs.
Together we can end hunting!
On the 18th of June the government consultation into banning 'trail hunting' will close. This consultation is your chance to have your say, be heard and end hunting.
https://t.co/wKRW6I5m9t
We need the following changes to the Hunting Act for it to be effective.
๐ป Recklessness clause - to ensure that injury or damage to any animal is a breach of the Act.
๐ป Reversal of the burden of proof to ensure participants are responsible for any action taken with hunting hounds.
๐ป Ban of trail hunting for artificial scent, animal-based or otherwise, to prevent trail hunting from being used as smokescreen for actual hunting.
๐ป Removal of all Hunting Exemptions as they have been used to facilitate actual hunting.
๐ป โHuntingโ definition to include the Act of โsearching for a scent or animalโ.
๐ป Criminal penalties to be aligned to Animal Welfare Act 2006.
During the 2020 webinar by the (then) Hunting Office, (now the BHSA), Richard Tyacke advised Beagle packs to pack up and go home if sabs were present. Because these packs operate on a much smaller scale than fox hunts, they are more vulnerable to prosecution.
Back in February, just before the 21st anniversary of the Hunting Act, Philip Saunders, huntsman of the Pipewell Foot Beagles, was found guilty of illegally hunting. The case arose due to a courageous wildlife photographer witnessing the Beagles hunting and killing a hare at Boughton Estates, owned by the Duke of Buccleuch.
There is no smokescreen for beagle packs, hence why they are told to pack up and go home should sabs arrive.
There is less than four weeks to complete the government consultation into banning hunting. This is your chance to have your say, speak up for wildlife and be a part of the change. https://t.co/LU5aw2G5YF
During the 2020 webinar by the (then) Hunting Office, (now the BHSA), Richard Tyacke advised Beagle packs to pack up and go home if sabs were present. Because these packs operate on a much smaller scale than fox hunts, they are more vulnerable to prosecution.
Back in February, just before the 21st anniversary of the Hunting Act, Philip Saunders, huntsman of the Pipewell Foot Beagles, was found guilty of illegally hunting. The case arose due to a courageous wildlife photographer witnessing the Beagles hunting and killing a hare at Boughton Estates, owned by the Duke of Buccleuch.
There is no smokescreen for beagle packs, hence why they are told to pack up and go home should sabs arrive.
There is less than four weeks to complete the government consultation into banning hunting. This is your chance to have your say, speak up for wildlife and be a part of the change. https://t.co/LU5aw2G5YF
The Hunt Saboteurs Association have been sabbing hunts for over 60 years. Our affiliated groups all over the country have extensive experience and knowledge of hunting; saving lives and exposing cruelty.
This has only been possible with your continued support.
By becoming a member of the HSA, you will be directly supporting saboteur groups, keeping them in the field, with the equipment they need. You will also receive a free subscription to our magazine 'HOWL' which contains exclusive group news and articles.
Find out more by following the link in the comments ๐
On the 14th of May, after a 12-week consultation, the Sentencing Council published a new guideline for sentencing hare coursing offences. It includes "๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ด โ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ต 18 ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ."
A member of the sentencing council described hare coursing as causing real harm "๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐บ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐จ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ." The exact same thing could be applied to hare hunting, and any other form of hunting with hounds.
So, whether itโs hare hunting or hare coursing the aim and outcome is the same, and both are illegal under the Hunting Act 2004. Both involve people taking dogs out into the countryside with the aim of chasing and killing hares and both cause distress to local communities. A link to our article "Hare coursing and hare hunting, different names, same aim" can be found in the comments.
There is now less than 5 weeks left to complete the consultation into banning "trail hunting." We need stiffer sentences and enforcement of the law, as well as an eradication of loopholes and exemptions. Have your say https://t.co/LU5aw2G5YF
New Hare coursing sentencing guideline
We note that Trespass in the daytime in search of game, Trespass with intent to search for hares with dogs and being equipped for searching or pursuing hares with dogs could and should be used against hare hunts.
https://t.co/3KdYpwgjpF
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐!
On Saturday hundreds of people turned out to send a very clear message to the government, there is no place for hunting! We are sick and tired of our wildlife being terrorised and killed and the time for change is now.
Megan McCubbin was one of the speakers at the rally and she spoke about an incident when she was out with a hunt saboteur group. The hunt had killed a fox the week before and when a member of the hunt was asked if he'd had to wash his red coat after bundling the body into it, he replied by smirking and saying, "I had to jet wash it."
This cruelty must be consigned to the history books, and you can make it happen by completing the government's consultation. Read the HSA's consultation guidelines ๐ https://t.co/LU5aw2G5YF
The intelligence of an animal has no effect on its capacity to feel pain or emotion.
Like humans, we know animals experience pain, excitement and suffering.
The 1st May marks the beginning of the hunting season, a date which sees administrative changes taking place before they all gather together, later in the year, to head out and kill wildlife. The 1st of May also means there are 48 days left to respond to the government's consultation into banning "trail hunting."
The HSA has provided carefully collated guidelines to assist you in the completion of the consultation, and these can be found at ๐https://t.co/LU5aw2G5YF
If you have already completed the consultation, please share with your family, friends and colleagues. Together we can end hunting.
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐โฆ
Hunts via the Countryside Alliance have effectively admitted they will โadaptโ by shifting to drag hunting if given the opportunity. If the government introduces this as an option for them, it will become the new smokescreen. Please make sure to respond to the government consultationโuse our guidance in the link below to help.
Tell them we need;
โ No more smokescreens
โ End all the loopholes
๐ฎ Enforce the law
๐ Real sentencing deterrents aligned with the Animal Welfare Act.
Tell the government your thoughts here ๐ https://t.co/LU5aw2G5YF
In 2025 Jed Forest Joint-Master and Hedge Fund Manager Johan Christofferson donated ยฃ100,000 to Nigel Farageโs Reform and now heโs looking for a return on his investment.
Reform are for sale to those with very deep pockets.
Send this โMan of the peopleโ a message in the local elections on May - our wildlife are not for bargaining with.
๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐!
This is a once in a generation opportunity to end hunting, and our wildlife need you now more than ever. The government's consultation into banning "trail hunting" is open until the 18th of June. The HSA has applied over sixty years' worth of knowledge, drawn from sabs all over the country, to formulate guidelines to assist you through the process.
https://t.co/LU5aw2G5YF
It is extremely important that you ensure your answers are individual and include any personal experiences you may have had in regard to hunting. If you have already completed the consultation, then please continue to share our posts to spread the word.
This is a pivotal time for wildlife and together we can end their suffering at the hands of hunts.