Meeting Simon Russell, the chair of The Hunt Saboteurs Association (hunt sabs) for the first time, was a proper laugh. Simon is a veteran activist and for over 40 years has been on the front lines fighting the UK’s cruel hunting lobby. His fight isn’t just for animal lives, it’s against the law, the police and entrenched class privilege. These are a few snippets from Simon’s life, stories of blood, bias and a new strategy to save animal lives.

Hunt sabs — the awakening

Simon’s fight started in the 1970s before he was even legally an adult. His father was a trade unionist, so he was already left-leaning but it was the visceral images of seal clubbing that really radicalised him. After attending his first protest in Trafalgar Square and the rest is history as his focus quickly turned to animal rights in the UK.

At age 17, Simon was arrested for the first time. Outside of a London McDonald’s he was handing out ‘McLibel’ leaflets when a copper shot him a warning. ‘Block that fucking door and you’re nicked’ was the message. Simon handed a leaflet to a passer-by and was immediately arrested and held until 2am.

It was this moment that changed his life. He had seen the police act with aggression and bias. He quickly realised:

If we couldn’t leaflet, what could we do?

This aggression pushed him towards more direct action. I mean, if you’re going to get arrested for leafletting, might as well get arrested for something a little more fun, right? So Simon joined the Tunbridge Wells sab group and his passion was born.

The Hunt Sabs Association began in 1963 when other animal rights groups had stopped using direct action and to this day the HSA is still the longest-surviving direct action group in the UK. The Aggravated Trespass Law was even created partially because of their antics in the countryside.

Blood, bone and institutional bias

The fight against the hunt is physical, and more often than not, aggressive. Simon laughed when he told me that he had been hospitalised seven times, brushing off concussion as nothing at all. He even laughed when he talked about getting jumped by six hunters who left him with a broken knee. It didn’t fucking stop him going out sabbing though.

Neither did the time he was assaulted with a knife and suffered a deep wound and a severed nerve, going on to speak about the absolute disdain coppers showed him when they turned up. They turned the ambulance away, demanding Simon made the choice between making a statement and getting much needed medical attention. Joke was on them though, before whisking himself away Simon made his statement and covered the paper in blood. And yet not a single charge was brought against the knife-wielding attacker, despite the hunt sabs offering police all the proof they needed. And let’s not even mention the time the hunt tried to drown him…

Simon assured me that this bias is common, although it has lessened in recent years, yet the distrust of the police will always permeate the movement.

I have never been through a court case where a copper hasn’t lied.

The psychological toll on sabs is massive. Confronting the hunt is fucking scary — they’re big, they have crops and guns — and they don’t give a shit about peasants. Being out in public, in the country, can leave sabs worried.

Then there’s times when sabs have paid the ultimate price for their activism. A young man named Tom was killed when he was hit by a speeding horse-box on a country lane. Another named Mike lost his life when he fell out of one of the hunt’s flatbed trailers.

Sabbing takes serious steel.

Class war and the countryside

The fight to save animal lives is deeply rooted in classist ideology. It’s not the working class who are roaming the countryside on thoroughbred horses and wearing fucking ridiculous coats. It’s not us who need to take an innocent, scared life to satisfy some disgusting bloodlust. These hunters tend to be wealthy and privileged, and they look down their noses on the sabs. Frequently activists are called ‘peasants’ and ‘scum,’ whilst high-profile, elitist establishment shit-holes such as Eton still boast their own beagle packs.

Simon said that even the legal system reflects this bias. Although it’s rare a sab is imprisoned, they do frequently incur legal costs and these can be fucking unfathomable. The hunters come from affluent families who can cover them easily. Sabs, on the other hand, can lose absolutely everything financially to fight for their freedom.

Police bias can be blatant. Some coppers policing the countryside have even admitted to being part of the hunt themselves. A brave few have even told Simon:

I don’t [like] protesters, they deserve what they get.

Pricks. That statement explains why so many police have ignored violence against sabs and countless incidents where their vehicles have been attacked with projectiles and chains.

A pivot to parliament

Simon has now moved the fight from the field to the Houses of Parliament. Despite the lack of trust in the police and the system, he recognises that not everything can be changed with direct action.

When Labour got in, Simon saw his chance and helped to push the hunting ban into their manifesto. He knew it would be safe to pass the House of Lords if he got it in there. Now building good relationships with MP’s, with the HSA holding a well-attended event in parliament to educate politicians and to push them to choose for institutional changes. Educating MP’s and, of course, giving them little freebies to tempt them through the doors appears to have had a massive impact.

Simon now has a core group of politicians and police figures who are happy to support the HSA’s demands to end the hunt. As testimony to his hard work and very frequent trips to London to push for change, Simon has now been invited to be an active participant at the round table discussion to help shape this new legislation.

But time is running out. If earthworm-human hybrid Nigel Farage seizes power in the next government, the ban could be reversed. He’s always been a vocal supporter of blood sports.

The HSA’s top priority is saving lives and Simon knows that building a rapport with the police will help the organisation to achieve this faster. Nothing, he stated, is more important than that.

They’re never going to stop. They’re legally savvy, but there’s always a risk — now after the ban on Palestine Action — of the HSA becoming branded a proscribed organisation.

But as Simon puts it:

Even if they did shut us down, we’d just open back up under another name!

The Hunt sabs association needs your support still

This decades long fight has taken its toll. It’s cost lives, it’s cost people’s peace of mind and countless vehicle costs.

Simon Russel and the HSA need our help more than ever to fight back against this class-based cruelty and these pompous pricks on horseback. So here’s a few ways you can help:

• Join: Want to save lives? Why not join your local group on the ground. If you can’t do that, you can help out in with admin.
• Donate: You can support the HSA by becoming a one off, monthly or yearly supporter to help cover costs for groups.
• Share the HSA’s story: Keep up the pressure on parliament and share the facts about illegal hunting in the UK.
• Contact your MP: Yes, I know it’s fucking pointless, but no harm in applying local pressure.
• Educate yourself: Download the HSA’s booklet ‘Witness the end of hunting’ here and educate yourself legally.

Thanks for reading, and next time we hope to be on the ground with the hunt sabs to see how they’re confronting the hunt head-to-head.