Honiton Agricultural Show (Devon)

The Honiton Agricultural Show is “where farming comes first…It is a showcase for the best of local farming, produce, crafts and rural skills.” Rural skills? Ah, there’s that word ‘rural’ again – and indeed the August 2024 Show was “delighted to host the West of England Hound Show, the second largest in the Country, attracting packs from all over the British Isles.” Hiniton hosted the West of Englamnd Hound Show again in August 2025, and the importance of shows like this to hunting was proved when the Countryside Alliance Hunting Facebook feed posted the following in the same momnth: “The organisers of the West of England Hound Show have taken action in the interests of animal welfare ahead of this year’s show due to be held at Honiton on Thursday, 7th August. One pack of hounds which exhibited at last week’s Dunster Show are displaying signs of kennel cough so any pack that showed there last week is no longer eligible to take part at Honiton. As a result, regrettably there will no longer be any beagle, harrier, staghound or mink hound classes taking place. The foxhound classes will go ahead, but only with packs that were not participating at Dunster last week. The West of England Hound Show is one of the highlights of the summer hunting calendar and we hope that the hunting community will continue to support the show this year before both Dunster and Honiton return to their full glory in 2026.” Which of those hunts brought sick hounds to a hound show isn’t yet known, but typical of the causal approach so often taken by the ‘community’…