In this episode of The Off the Leash Podcast, Charlie Moores and Dominic Dyer look at Dorset Police’s baffling and frankly bizarre decision to halt an investigation into the poisoning of a White-tailed Eagle found dead on a Dorset shooting estate; at an FOI request from Wiltshire Hunt Sabs that found that an astonishing 53 police officers chaperoned the notorious Avon Vale Hunt at one meet in Wiltshire in early March but still couldn’t see assaults on sabs taking place in front of them; and we will look briefly at a rather clever suggestion put forward by Wild Justice about the shooting of Woodcocks.  We also name our Heroes and Villains (which once again features the divisive and unrepresentative Countryside Alliance)

But we begin with a look at newly-released figures from Defra which state that at least 33,687 badgers were slaughtered in 2021 as part of its ongoing campaign to appease the dairy industry; petition updates; and Dominic's thoughts on how shifting government priorities might see the Animals Abroad Bill shelved...

• Badger Trust |  Badger Trust outraged as latest cull figures reveal record proportion killed by inhumane shooting
• Off the Leash |  Interview #23 Tom Langton and Dr Mark Jones | Badger Culling Research
• The Guardian |  Cabinet row as plan to ban fur and foie gras trade scrapped by PM
• Raptor Persecution UK |  Poisoned eagle in Dorset had 7 x lethal dose rodenticide in its liver
• Wild Mammal Persecution UK |  The Rule of Law
• Off the Leash | Interview# 22 Wiltshire Hunt Sabs March 2022 
• Wiltshire Hunt Sabs FOI Tweet
• Wild Justice |  We ask for changes to the Woodcock shooting season
• Off the Leash | Shortcast #59 Charlie Moores  Ban the Shooting of Woodcocks 
• The National | North Wales PCC accused of ‘prejudice’ over hunting review