Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show (Dorset)

In August 2023 Protect the Wild supported an Action Against Foxhunting (AAF) campaign which was asking for clarity about which hunt packs organisers had invited to parade at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show. Despite assurances no hunts with ‘outstanding criminal convictions’ would be invited, AAF attended the Show on the 16th and discovered that both the Portman Hunt and the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt (BSV) were parading their hounds in what AAF noted was a ‘shambles’. Both hunts were due to appear in court. Charlie Mayo of the BSV was subsequently convicted of causing Actual Bodily Harm in April 2024. Despite being kept ‘off’ the listing of events for 2024, AAF reported that once again hounds were featured, including from the criminal Blackmore and Sparkford Vale (who were supposed to be in court but went to the Show instead), the Portman Hunt, and the Wilton Hunt. An email sent from the Show organisers in July 2025 to both the BSV and the Portman Hunts (and reprinted by Action Against Foxhunting) ‘uninvited’ them both, citing ‘recent convictions under the Hunting Act’ and ‘scrutiny and public pressure’. The email went on to say, though, that the Show would still hold a hound parade and that they hope to continue “our positive relationship moving forward”. So, not time to ease up on the ‘scrutiny and public pressure’ just yet…