Three people associated with the Mendip Farmers Hunt have pleaded not guilty to hunting a wild mammal with dogs. Emma Clothier, Charlie Thomas and Bill Payne appeared at Taunton Deane Magistrates’ Court on 15 September 2026. All three pleaded not guilty and are due to face trial on 15 September 2027. The case relates to a fox killed on 17th January 2026, when the Mendip Farmers Hunt met at their kennels in Priddy, Somerset. The incident was filmed on a drone camera being operated by Mendip Hunt Sabs A HSA spokesperson said “𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 – 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬, 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 – 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯. 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰-𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 “𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨” 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦.” Read more 👉🏻 huntsabs.org.uk/mendip-farme…

‘𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗨𝗠𝗡’ 𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗦 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗔𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗦 ‘𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗟’ 𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 Cub hunting or ‘autumn' hunting as it is referred to by hunts, has been underway for a few weeks now and already we are seeing overwhelming reports of foxes running for their lives and aggressive behaviour from hunts whose illegal activity is being exposed. Our latest article looks at the season so far and provides more information about what you can do to help 👉 huntsabs.org.uk/autumn-hunti…

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴 - on Saturday September 12, 2026, the Devon and Somerset Staghounds pursued this stag to his death. We take a look back at the controversy of the Barle stag in 1994, a stag killed in almost identical circumstances - even though hunting is now banned, they are still killing. This is not 'research and observation' and it most certainly is not 'trail hunting'. huntsabs.org.uk/devon-and-so…

Last Monday (September 14, 2026) this hunted stag escaped the Quantock Staghounds, after members of the hunt assaulted a hunt sab causing a head injury. The hunt was so preoccupied avoiding the attending police officers who were called out to deal with the assault, that the stag managed to escape into New Ground, a League Against Cruel Sports sanctuary. Thanks to @NDHuntSabs, @mendiphuntsab and Somerset Sabs who were all present. This same hunt have recently been charged with illegal hunting in an incident which occurred in March 2026 - see our article in the link below for more. Even when hunts assault sabs, they will lose.

𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 Avon and Somerset Police have charged Quantock Staghounds hunt master Chris Gibbons and huntsman Martin Watts with illegally hunting a wild mammal with dogs in relation to an incident on March 16, 2026. Watts faces a further charge relating to a separate incident on April 23, 2026 Both men are to appear in Taunton Magistrates’ Court on October 22, 2026 to answer the charges. The charges relate to the brutal five-hour pursuit of a stag, which ended with the exhausted animal becoming trapped and being shot. "𝐴𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑏 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥ℎ𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑗𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒, ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑢𝑛, 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑏 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙." Read more 👇 huntsabs.org.uk/quantock-hun…

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘆-𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗿. On Saturday, this magnificent stag was found quickly in the boggy woodland below Twitchen, and from there the pursuit began. Read about how, after a two-hour pursuit by relays of hounds in pairs, the exhausted animal, gasping for breath entered the River Barle to cool down and regain some strength, before making a last ditch, but ultimately futile attempt to get away from his tormentors. Many, many stags have met a similar fate, but we look back on a near-identical situation in the same location over thirty years ago, which prompted outrage at the time. And here we still are, desipte a so-called ban. Read more here 👉huntsabs.org.uk/devon-and-so…

This week, former Prime Minister David Cameron, who is also the stepson-in-law of British Hound Sports Association Chair Viscount Astor, described the proposed so-called “trail-hunting” ban as “completely wrong,” while former Home Secretary David Blunkett, who opposed the original 2004 ban on fox hunting, called it a “mistake.” Any more has-beens that hunting propagandists want to dig up to defend the indefensible, we wonder? Cameron’s stepfather-in-law and BHSA chair recently went to extraordinary efforts to “hoodwink” ministers into accepting changes to trail hunting rather than the ban promised in Labour’s manifesto. Take a look back at our recent article about the shady attempt by hunting’s old guard to convince ministers to let them continue hunting foxes 👉🏻 huntsabs.org.uk/vote-not-ok-…