CAN YOU HELP PROTECT THE WILD CARRY ON WITH INVESTIGATIONS - A DONATION IS REQUESTED

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Will you help us keep going? PROTECT THE WILD JUN 1 READ IN APP We’re taking on industries, governments, and powerful interests with little more than determination and a small team. Yet in May alone, we aired an undercover investigation on ITV, reached millions of people online, featured on national television, secured wildlife victories, and continued putting pressure on those harming animals and nature. But the truth is that none of this is guaranteed to continue. Every investigation, campaign, report, and piece of journalism relies on people choosing to support our work. This month we’re aiming to raise £2,500 to help fund the next stage of our investigations, campaigning, and advocacy. Donate to Protect the Wild If you’re able to make a donation today, we’d be incredibly grateful. Together, we can keep exposing cruelty, challenging powerful interests, and fighting for wildlife. Thank you, Rob SHARE LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2026 Protect the Wild Protect the Wild, 71-75 Shelton Street Covent Garden, London, W2CH 9JQ Unsubscribe Start writing

FROM PROTECT THE WILD - NO LEGAL KILLING FOR ANYMORE GUGA?

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more New polling shows huge surge in opposition to the Guga hunt. Something has shifted. And the numbers prove it. DEVON DOCHERTY JUN 1 READ IN APP The tides are well and truly shifting against the Guga hunt - the cruel annual killing of Gannet chicks off the North West coast of Scotland - and we have the stats to prove it. Our latest polling shows that 77% of Scottish people with a view want the Guga hunt to be banned. In December, that figure was 69%, showing a significant increase in opposition in just five months. Even when taking into consideration people who answered ‘Don’t know’, the results show an outright majority supporting an end to the Guga hunt. Over half of all Scots want this hunt stopped. Strip out the don't knows and it's three in four. However you cut these numbers, the Scottish public has delivered a clear verdict on the Guga hunt - and they want it to stop. Stop the Guga hunt Our poll, commissioned with market research group FindOutNow, was Scottish-representative - meaning it was carefully weighted to reflect the real make-up of Scotland's population across age, gender, region and other factors. This is as close to the genuine public view as polling gets. How many people had heard of the Guga hunt before? We also asked if participants had previously heard of the hunt before taking part in our survey. The results were: At first glance, 17% may not sound like a particularly high figure. But when you consider that this is representative of the Scottish population, it means that around 748,000 Scottish adults had heard of the Guga hunt before. For a practice that has quietly continued for centuries, largely hidden from public view, the fact that hundreds of thousands of Scots are now aware of it represents a significant breakthrough. In fact, I’d wager that if this question had been asked just a year ago, the figure would have been less than 1% awareness. A year ago, I had never even heard of the Guga hunt myself - and by that point I had spent six years involved in Scotland's animal protection movement. While there’s clearly still a huge amount of awareness-raising to do, these results suggest that the Guga hunt is no longer a niche issue known only to the perpetrators and a handful of NatureScot staff. It is becoming a matter of national public debate. Tell NatureScot - END THE GUGA HUNT What’s changed? We believe the surge in both opposition to and awareness of the Guga hunt has been driven largely by a huge increase in media coverage. Our election campaign, which saw Protect the Wild founder Rob stand as a candidate in Edinburgh Central went particularly viral, showing the value of bold and creative campaigning. It helped bring the issue to a national audience, generating huge coverage across major UK media outlets, including broadcasting on BBC, ITV and STV news. We also featured on a segment of Have I Got News For You, which has an average of around 4 million viewers. Other factors include our viral Guga hunt animations each reaching millions of people, our collaboration with actor Brian Cox, direct action by grassroots activists from Abolish the Guga hunt, and growing efforts from other organisations. Why did we only poll in Scotland? Scotland has its own parliament and decisions about the future of the Guga hunt will ultimately be made there. The people who make up that parliament are elected to represent, and are accountable to, the Scottish public. NatureScot, the body responsible for licensing the hunt, is answerable to that same parliament, and those same members of the Scottish public. That makes Scottish public opinion particularly important. One of the most common claims made by defenders of the hunt is that opposition comes primarily from outside Scotland. Whether fair or not, it is important that we can demonstrate that concern about the Guga hunt exists within Scotland itself, and that support for ending it is growing among the Scottish people. And that’s exactly what we’ve done with this new polling. But let me be clear - this doesn’t mean opinions from elsewhere aren’t important. Public pressure doesn’t stop at Scotland’s borders, and support from across the UK and around the world has been invaluable in helping shine a light on the Guga hunt. Tell NatureScot - End the Guga hunt So wherever you’re from, please keep engaging with this campaign. Every conversation, every email, every petition signature and every action helps expose a practice that has remained hidden from public view for far too long. Help protect wildlife every month If you’re reading this, chances are you’re already part of the movement. Whether you’ve shared our content, signed a petition, contacted a decision-maker or simply helped spread the word, thank you. But if we’re going to keep growing, winning campaigns and protecting wildlife, we need more than support - we need sustainable funding. That’s why monthly donations are so important. If you’re able to support us, even if that’s the price of a cup of coffee once a month - please do, it makes everything we do for wildlife possible. Donate to Protect the Wild As a special thank you to those who support our campaign to end the Guga hunt, we’ll send you a Gannet plush toy as a small, soft reminder of the birds you are helping to protect. Just donate via the button above, or by clicking this link. SHARE LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2026 Protect the Wild Protect the Wild, 71-75 Shelton Street Covent Garden, London, W2CH 9JQ Unsubscribe Start writing

FROM PROTECT THE WILD - THE HARD TRUTH ABOUT INDUSTRIAL GAME BIRD FARMING. VILE IT IS

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more A pheasant’s organs were forced back inside her body. This is the vile reality of the shooting industry they want hidden. PROTECT THE WILD JUN 1 READ IN APP This is some of the most vile footage I have ever had to watch in my 11 years running Protect the Wild. Every time I replay it, I come away with immense anger and sadness. Not because this is an isolated accident. Not because one bird was suffering. But because this footage exposes the lie at the heart of the bird shooting industry. For years, the industry has told the public that it operates to the highest welfare standards. It claims its birds are cared for by trained professionals. It insists it can regulate itself. It tells politicians, journalists and the public that the welfare of the animals it breeds and shoots is a priority. Then our undercover investigator walked inside one of the UK’s largest “game” bird breeding facilities and recorded what actually happens. This wasn’t footage from some rogue backyard operation. This was recorded inside Heart of England, a company that breeds millions of pheasants and partridges for the shooting industry and proudly boasts on its website that its birds are produced “without shortcuts.” What our investigator witnessed was a hen pheasant suffering from a prolapse being left untreated for days. Days. Repeatedly reported. Repeatedly ignored. Become a Game Changer When somebody finally intervened, there was no veterinarian. No pain relief. No antiseptic. No proper medical treatment. Instead, an unqualified member of staff attempted to force the prolapsed tissue back inside the bird’s body using dirty equipment and the bird’s own soiled feathers before returning her to the cage. His assessment afterwards? “We’ll try it, see what happens.” Imagine that for a moment. Imagine being that bird. Your body has literally begun to fail under the strain of laying eggs. Internal tissue is protruding from your body. You are in pain. You are vulnerable. You need urgent veterinary treatment. Instead, you are subjected to this crude and unhygienic procedure before being thrown back into a cage to continue suffering. Become a Game Changer Why was this bird there? Why was she enduring this in the first place? Because she was part of a production line. Her purpose was to produce eggs. Those eggs would become chicks. Those chicks would be reared in their tens of millions. Then they would be released into the countryside only to be shot from the sky for entertainment. That is the reality. This bird’s suffering existed because somebody wanted more pheasants to shoot. The industry likes to talk about conservation. It likes to talk about rural traditions. It likes to talk about livelihoods and heritage. But strip away the marketing and this is what remains: animals treated as units of production. Breeding machines. Disposable commodities. Living creatures pushed to their limits because there is money to be made from the birds they produce. Perhaps what disgusts me most is not simply the suffering itself, but the casual attitude towards it. Our investigator recorded conversations about prolapses, birds dying from reproductive injuries and birds becoming egg-bound. The deaths and suffering were discussed not as tragedies to be prevented but as expected losses within a system designed to maximise production. “It just happens.” “It’s part of the game we’re in. It’s not nice, but... They’re like, **** me, I’ve laid too many eggs…” No. It doesn’t “just happen.” These injuries happen because humans have created an industrial system that pushes animals beyond what their bodies were ever meant to endure. And when suffering becomes so routine that people stop seeing it as suffering, something has gone badly wrong. The shooting industry has millions of pounds behind it. It has wealthy landowners. It has celebrity shooters. It has lobby groups, trade organisations and political influence. But they can’t run away from the truth. And the truth is contained in footage like this. The truth is contained in the testimony of undercover investigators who risk their jobs and safety to expose what happens behind closed doors. The truth is contained in the suffering of birds like this pheasant. That is why we launched our campaign to End Bird Shooting. That is why we are exposing the industry from hatchery to gun. And that is why we need your help. The other side has money. We have something far more powerful. We have you. We have the evidence. We have the truth. Most importantly, we are on the side of the animals. If this footage makes you as angry as it makes us, please become a Game Changer today. Become a Game Changer By becoming a monthly supporter, you’ll help fund more hard-hitting undercover investigations, expose cruelty hidden from public view, challenge industry propaganda and build the movement needed to end bird shooting in the UK once and for all. The industry is counting on nobody looking. Together, we can make sure the whole country sees exactly what is happening. And together, we can bring this cruel industry to an end. SHARE LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2026 Protect the Wild Protect the Wild, 71-75 Shelton Street Covent Garden, London, W2CH 9JQ Unsubscribe Start writing

FROM PLANTLIFE - LET THE GRASS AND MEADOWS BLOOM IN JUNE

Let's Let it Bloom View this email in your browser Donate Join Shop Hi John, May might be over, but the No Mow Movement is still well underway, and it's not too late join - welcome to Let it Bloom June! While May is a great time to start the Movement, letting your lawn grow through June can be great too - and every little space adds up to huge gains for nature. All you need to do is mow less and create space for nature to thrive. In return you lock up more carbon, help your garden deal with the heat and provide pollinators and other wildlife with a vital lifeline. Say no more, I'm ready to join Let it Bloom Your Way The No Mow Movement isn't about throwing away the mower altogether - it's about trying to replicate some of those lost meadows at home. How you choose to continue (or begin) the Movement is up to you: Hands celebrating Go Wild - go all in and let your lawn grow like a mini hay meadow through to the end of July. Flower Create a Mow-saic Mix - think short paths, flowering lawn patches and longer areas with taller wildflowers and grasses, variety is the spice of life! Green heart Beautiful borders - leave some space around your border to bloom and see what wildlife takes sanctuary in the tufts of grasses. Let's Let it Bloom With the hottest May temperature on record this year, there has never been a better time to help our wildlife. The benefits of less mowing are blooming brilliant! You'll boost biodiversity, provide safe and cooler spaces for insects and animals and protect your lawn from drought. So please do tell us and add your name to the No Mow Movement if you’re letting the grass grow - you’ll help us to keep track of the space that is being created for nature across the UK. We can't wait to welcome all the new No Mow Heroes! Thank you. Charley Adams, Plantlife Nature Editor Follow Plantlife on: Instagram Instagram Facebook Facebook YouTube YouTube LinkedIn LinkedIn Website Website Copyright © Plantlife All rights reserved. Plantlife International is a charitable company limited by guarantee. Registered Charity in England and Wales (1059559) & Scotland, (SC038951) Registered Company in England and Wales (3166339) Registered Office: Brewery House,36 Milford Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 2AP, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1722 342730 enquiries@plantlife.org.uk www.plantlife.org.uk Plantlife respects your privacy. You can read more about how and why we use your personal data at www.plantlife.org.uk/privacy-notice Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

FROM THE HUNT SABOTEURS — FROM TRAIL HUNTING TO DRAG HUNTING?

View this email in your browser Hi, Supporter From Trail Hunting to Drag Hunting: The Next Smokescreen? Trail hunting does not exist as a genuine activity; it exists only as a myth. It was invented after the hunting ban as a smokescreen for the continued hunting of wild mammals - exactly as campaigners warned it would be, and exactly as hunts themselves said they would do. The convicted Crawley and Horsham Fox hunt in 2023/24 - now a registered drag hunt as of 2025/26. Image Credit West Sussex Hunt Sabs In 2020, fifteen years after hunting was banned, the sport’s governing body held a series of Zoom calls during the Covid lockdowns which were later leaked to the Hunt Saboteurs Association and released on ITV News. The recordings exposed hunting’s leadership, coaching masters and huntsmen on how to circumvent the law and avoid prosecution. It was from these webinars that the now-infamous term “smokescreen” entered the public debate — used to describe trail hunting as a cover for continued illegal hunting. The leak marked a turning point. The beginning of the end of hunts operating with impunity while publicly insisting they were acting within the law. Twenty-one years later, the public has more than had enough, and finally a government was elected with a manifesto pledge to ban the fiction of trail hunting. But banning the myth alone does not deal with the underlying activity. How can you ban something that does not truly happen? What must be outlawed is the use of any smokescreen that enables the hunting of wild mammals to continue under another name. During the infamous leaked Hunting Office webinars, Richard Gurney who was master and huntsman of the Crawley & Horsham hunt, referred to laying trails as a 'Plan B' held in reserve for when sabs turn up. That means ensuring hunts cannot simply reinvent themselves through another supposedly “alternative” activity. And there is every reason to believe they already are. The most obvious replacement smokescreen is drag hunting. That is not speculation — it has effectively been admitted by the hunting lobby itself. As reported by the BBC News, Countryside Alliance representative Polly Portwin said that if trail hunting were banned, hunts would adapt: “We will find a way, we’ve had to find a way and we’re going to have to adapt”. So why is the government simultaneously saying it wants “alternative practices such as drag hunting and clean-boot hunting, which use non-animal scents, to continue to thrive”? “Thrive”? There are only seven registered drag hunting packs in the UK. The Drag Hunting Reality Berks & Bucks Draghounds — formerly kennelled with the Avon Vale Hunt and hunted by former Avon Vale huntsman Stuart Radbourne before the Avon Vale were exposed in multiple cases involving extreme cruelty to animals. Radbourne would slaughter foxes on Saturdays and hunt a drag on Sundays. He has since been seen riding as whipper-in for huntsman Andrew Van Oostrum despite multiple convictions relating to serious animal abuse. Cambridge University Draghounds describes itself as an “extra-mural study” for students, but openly presents itself as a training ground for future leaders of the hunting world, boasting a “long list” of former members who became masters of hounds. One example is Ronnie Wallace, associated with hunts including the Hawkstone Otterhounds, Exmoor Foxhounds, Ludlow, Cotswold and Heythrop hunts. Crawley & Horsham Draghounds switched from registration with the British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) to the Masters of Draghounds & Bloodhounds Association ahead of the proposed ban. The fate of their fox hunting hounds remains unclear. The organisation has long been associated with “smokescreen” hunting practices. Former master and huntsman Richard Gurney was exposed in the Hunting Office webinars referring to trail laying as a “Plan B” to use when hunt saboteurs appeared. The Crawley & Horsham Hunt also has convictions for illegal hunting. In 2012, three members, including huntsman Andrew Phillis, were convicted on five counts of illegal hunting. In 2013, professional huntsman Nicholas Bycroft pleaded guilty to an offence under the Hunting Act. In 2021, two separate cases against then-huntsman William Bishop collapsed after CPS failures to disclose video evidence. Isle of Wight Hounds — another former BHSA-registered pack now making the switch before legislation changes. Jersey Draghounds Mid Surrey Farmers Draghounds Staff College Draghounds Drag Hunt huntsman Stuart Radbourne hunting the Drag hounds on a Sunday. And the same Stuart Radbourne digging out foxes on a Saturday. The Scent Contradiction Sabs have long documented what scents so-called ‘trail hunts’ claim to use, here are just a few from our reports; Staghounds Quantock Staghounds — aniseed (2018) Foxhounds Hampshire Hunt — Olbas Oil (2025/26) Royal Artillery Hunt — valerian root (2025/26) Portman Hunt — clove oil (2025/26) Wilton Hunt — aniseed (2023/24), then reportedly returned to fox scent in 2025/26 because alternatives “don’t really work as well” Harriers Holcombe Harriers — “cheap perfume” Beagles Bolebroke Beagles — aniseed New Forest Beagles — Olbas Oil (2017) Wilton Hunt offer sabs a sniff of their sock. Credit Wiltshire Hunt Sabs The original justification for trail hunting using fox scent after the Hunting Act was supposedly to “keep the dogs’ noses” trained while hunts campaigned for the repeal of the Act. Yet the extraordinary inconsistency in the scents now claimed — from aniseed and clove oil to cheap perfume and Olbas Oil — alongside admissions that animal-based scents work better, exposes a fundamental problem: they do not actually know what works best because hounds were never genuinely retrained away from live quarry. The example of the Wilton Hunt is particularly revealing. After publicly claiming to have switched to non-animal scent trails in 2023/24, it now reportedly admits that fox scent has been reintroduced because alternatives “don’t really work”. It cannot be acceptable for actual hunting to continue simply to preserve seven registered drag hunts — several of which have direct or deeply questionable links to convicted fox hunting activity and individuals associated with illegal hunting. A ban on trail hunting alone is not enough. The government must ensure that any new law covers all eventualities, closes every potential smokescreen, and removes the loopholes and exemptions that have allowed hunts to continue operating in practice while claiming compliance on paper. Nothing less will do. The government has launched a public consultation on Trail Hunting – this is our chance to stop cruel hunting for good. You can read the HSA’s guidance and take part in the consultation here. The deadline is 18th June 2026 – make sure your voice is heard. Take part in the Trail Hunting Consultation now: Have your say Join the Hunt Saboteurs Association! Support our vital work by becoming a member. Join The HSA Spread the word! Please share our news Share via email Facebook icon Instagram icon Twitter icon Logo Copyright (C) 2026 Hunt Saboteurs Association. All rights reserved. You were subscribed to the newsletter from Hunt Saboteurs Association. Our mailing address is: BM HSA, London, WC1N 3XX, U.K. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe

FROM PROTECT THE WILD - SO MUCH TO READ AND TO TAKE ACTION ON

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more How did we fit all of this into one month? From national news to Parliament, another busy month for Protect the Wild! PROTECT THE WILD MAY 31 READ IN APP These donation appeals are vital to keeping Protect the Wild moving forward. We are not funded by corporations. We do not rely on large grants. Everything we do is powered by ordinary people choosing to give small amounts because they believe animals deserve a voice. Before I ask for your support today, I want to show you what that support achieved in May. Because honestly, when I sat down to write this email, I found myself asking: How did we fit all of this into one month? June Fundraiser Taking animal issues into the national spotlight For years, animal protection campaigns have often struggled to break into the mainstream. Not in May. Over the course of a single month, our campaigns appeared on ITV, BBC, STV, national newspapers and even Have I Got News For You. Just six weeks after my campaign as a giant Gannet candidate in the Scottish elections was featured on Have I Got News For You, I found myself back in the headlines - this time standing in the Makerfield by-election dressed as a giant fox. Some people ask why we do this. The answer is simple. Animals don’t get a vote. The Guga hunt had remained largely hidden from public scrutiny for generations. Hunting with hounds has survived years of political delay, loopholes and broken promises. These campaigns are designed to force those issues into the public conversation. What started as a giant Gannet costume ended with the campaign appearing on BBC News, ITV News, STV News, front pages and prime-time television. Millions of people who had never heard of the Guga hunt suddenly knew exactly what it was. That momentum continued throughout May. June Fundraiser We appeared on Scotland’s most watched news programme challenging NatureScot over a fresh licence application for the Guga hunt. A once obscure issue has become a national debate. And our petition demanding an end to the licensed slaughter of Gannet chicks has now passed 192,000 signatures and is rapidly approaching 200,000. Earlier this month, we travelled to NatureScot's headquarters in Inverness to deliver what is now the largest petition in the organisation's history, only to be told it would need to be submitted by email instead. The campaign to end the Guga hunt continues and you can add your name to the petition here. Exposing the bird shooting industry While our campaigners were generating headlines, our investigators were generating evidence. In May, ITV News aired footage from Protect the Wild’s undercover investigation into the bird shooting industry. The footage was the result of over a year of work and hundreds of hours of evidence gathered from “game” bird farms across the country. Millions of birds are bred and released every year to be shot for sport. But the public rarely gets to see what happens before those birds arrive on shooting estates. We pulled back the curtain. And we didn’t stop there. Throughout May we continued publishing findings from the investigation, exposing industrial breeding systems, raised cages and the factory farming practices that sit behind an industry that constantly attempts to present itself as conservation. This investigation is ongoing. And some of our most significant findings are still to come. Please head over to our End Bird Shooting Substack to stay in the loop. June Fundraiser Taking the fight directly to Parliament In May we also took our Rehome the Hounds campaign to Westminster. Alongside rescue organisations, behaviourists and Alfred the rescued hunt hound, we met with MPs to challenge one of the hunting lobby’s most persistent arguments: that hunting dogs cannot be rehomed if hunting ends. The truth is they can. And the response from MPs was overwhelmingly positive. At the same time, we continued driving participation in the Government’s consultation on hunting, ensuring that public pressure for meaningful reform continues to grow. Over 30,000 of you have now used our handy 15 second tool to respond to the consultation. You can do so here if you haven’t already! Turning campaigns into victories Not every campaign makes national headlines. Some save lives directly. Following pressure from supporters and local campaigners, swifts were once again able to access their nesting site in Banstead after obstacles blocking access were removed. Our new rapid-response bird netting campaign also secured the removal of harmful bird netting from two locations, preventing further suffering and deaths. To support that campaign, we released a new animation exposing the cruelty of bird netting. More than 1.5 million people have already watched it. This is what your support makes possible When I look back at May, it doesn’t feel like one month. It feels like six. An undercover investigation aired on ITV. We featured on Have I Got News For You for the second time in six weeks. We saw tens of thousands add their name to our petition calling for an end to the Guga hunt. National television appearances. Conversations with MPs. Wildlife victories on the ground. Millions of people reached. Protect the Wild continues to punch far above its weight because thousands of people choose to stand alongside us. We’ve set a goal of £2,500 for our June fundraiser to power us on this month and would be so appreciative of any support you can give :) Thank you. Rob June Fundraiser SHARE LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2026 Protect the Wild Protect the Wild, 71-75 Shelton Street Covent Garden, London, W2CH 9JQ Unsubscribe Start writing

A POEM THAT IS ABOUT GAMEBIRD INDUSTRIAL FACTORY FARMING

Written in response to Protect The Wild post on game bird factory farming linear concept solar farm panels fit the norm conform to a notion of order row upon row headstones line up conform in deathly order row upon row row upon row small cages elevated hope and excrement to fall there have been camps that proximated death this one is no exception industrial bred cage birds to be allowed out as a supposed wild thing to fly to be peppered by leadshot or to escape into their unworldy wild it’s all for fun as an elite blast poison into the skies John Edwards (C) 18th May, 2026