Our Sanctuaries

The League Against Cruel Sports owns 36 areas of land across Somerset and Devon, which are maintained as wildlife reserves and enable us to monitor and investigate hunting and shooting activities.

These pieces of land have been donated to or acquired by the League starting in the 1950s to act as a barrier to 20 hunts in the South West, a prime area for hunting, and to act as safe places for hunted animals.

Large numbers of Red Deer congregate on the land to enjoy the peace and tranquillity, and many have run to safety when being hunted - whether legally before 2004 or illegally after that.

They have also been and continue to be a platform from where we can monitor and investigate hunting and shooting activities, as part of our work to help better enforce the Hunting Act and other animal welfare legislation and to expose the cruelty involved in hunting and commercial shooting.

As a result of sensitive management over the years, the reserves have escaped many of the rigours of intensive modern agricultural and forestry practices, providing oases for wildlife in a countryside doused with man-made chemicals. Many of the reserves have been recognised for their wildlife value by English Nature or the appropriate County Wildlife Trust. The wild plants and animals that live there remain largely undisturbed and in fact species that are becoming increasingly scarce abound.

We monitor wildlife such as birds, dormice, otters and butterflies by providing nest boxes and we provide habitat where wild animals rescued by other charities can be released.

The reserves also allow us to provide an educational service. While they are not currently open to the general public, we are able to accommodate visits for schools and other groups. 

Contact Us if you would like to arrange a visit.