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Two decades since The Hunting Act (2004) gained royal assent there are claims the pursuits continue. Labour has pledged to ban trail hunting which it said “allows the illegal hunting of foxes, deer, and hares.”
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Pack of hounds chase after a fox on Dartmoor National Park
Despite being banned almost 20 years ago fox hunts are still rife across the British countryside, warn campaigners, who say a loophole in the law is being “exploited”.
According to The League Against Cruel Sports, nearly 1,400 incidents, comprising reports of suspected illegal hunting and 870 reports of hunt havoc, were recorded between November 2023 to March 2024. It is a huge increase on the 982 incidents they recorded during the same period the season before.
But they believe this is just the tip of the iceberg because many hunt meets go unmonitored.
The ban was one of New Labour’s defining policies but 20 years on this week from The Hunting Act (2004) gaining royal assent why is it still happening? When the hunting of mammals using dogs was made illegal a new sport of trail hunting, which is supposed to mimic traditional hunting by following a fox-based scent trail laid by runners or horse riders ahead of the pack, was invented. The aim is to replicate a traditional hunt without harming the animal and is not currently covered by the Hunting Act. Campaigners say if this is correct then why are foxes still being savagely torn apart by hunt hounds?
New footage shot by a family out walking in Dartmoor National Park given to the Mirror appears to show a pack of hounds chasing a fox followed by around 30 riders on horses. It was filmed by a family out walking in Dartmoor National Park last month. The majority of trail hunting activity on Dartmoor is facilitated by private landowners who provide individual consents. Along with Exmoor and the Peak District, they are the last three national park authorities in England and Wales which still allow ‘trail’ hunts on their land. The remaining 10 national park authorities have policies which prevent hunts on 2.3 million acres of land run by other landowners including the National Trust.
John Petrie, senior campaigns manager for the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “This distressing incident highlights that hunts are still chasing foxes despite the ban and wreaking havoc across the countryside.
“To have a family, including such young children, see this activity going on in front of them, shows how commonplace it still is despite hunting being made illegal nearly 20 years ago.
“This footage clearly shows the hounds from the Dartmoor Hunt chasing a fox. Fox hunting is illegal. This is fox hunting.”
Labour has promised in its general election manifesto to end trail hunting. Trail hunts have also been described by Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman, the most senior police officer in England with responsibility for fox hunting crime, as a “smokescreen for illegal fox hunting”. He also described illegal hunting as “prolific” after a video was leaked showing members of a hunt digging foxes out of a den before the animals were chased by hounds last year.
In response to the alleged fox hunt in Dartmoor, the British Hound Sports Association said: “Wildlife is always on the move in the countryside where trail hunting takes place so it is not a surprise to see other animals when hounds are following a trail. From the footage it does not look as if any law is being broken. If there were illegal activity then the police would open an investigation.”
Last month Neil Burton, 59, was found guilty of fox hunting after he was filmed by the Lincolnshire Hunt Saboteurs in January. The footage shows a fox running across the lane behind Burton, and into a wooded covert followed by hounds. As this happened the huntsman rode his horse through a hedgerow and was heard using voice calls and his hunting horns closely followed by the Hunt Saboteurs. Burton denied he was encouraging his hounds to hunt the fox, but this was rejected. He was fined £600 and must pay costs of £650 and a victim surcharge of £240.
DC Aaron Flint, of Lincolnshire Rural Crime Action Team, said: “We simply will not tolerate illegal fox hunting; it is a barbaric and savage activity. I hope this conviction sends a clear message that we will take anyone to court who, when the evidence allows, has taken part in such a cruel and primitive pursuit.”
Autopsies have revealed that hunted foxes are not killed quickly, but endure numerous bites and tears to their flanks and hindquarters – causing enormous suffering before death. Foxes forced to face terriers underground can suffer injuries to the face, head and neck, as can the terriers.
Organisation Protect the Wild says that dogs are also the forgotten victims of hunting with hounds frequently injured and killed. On 17 October hunt saboteurs released photographs of a hound plummeting off a railway bridge onto a road, face-first, during the course of a day’s activities with the West Norfolk Hunt. They say other hounds have been killed on roads, knocked down on railway tracks, and some have even fallen down a mineshaft.
Earlier this month a cross-party group of 18 MPs wrote an open letter to environment secretary Steve Reed asking for a series of legal loopholes to be addressed in law and for him to set out a timetable for action.
League spokesperson John Petrie said: “As we approach the 20th anniversary of the Hunting Act coming into force, these figures evidence why the law needs to be strengthened. “Fox hunting is going on as it did before the ban and we need the government to act. The police and courts need help to prosecute those who would break the Hunting Act, and that’s why the law needs to be strengthened and so-called trail hunting banned.”
But a report by the Action Against Fox Hunting organisation warned such a ban would be ineffective because hunters would find other ways around the law.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “This government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation – that is exactly what we will do. We will ban trail hunting that allows for the illegal hunting of foxes, deer, and hares.”
The British Hound Sports Association says on its website: “Due to the persistent spurious allegations from our opponents that hunts are not trail hunting, the presence of Saboteurs trying to intentionally disrupt the legal activities, Hunts record and keep evidence of their Trail Laying and files are kept of the day’s activities.”
Dartmoor National Park Authority said: “There is zero tolerance for wildlife crime in the National Park. Dartmoor National Park Authority are actively engaged with Devon and Cornwall Police through the Dartmoor Rural Crime Initiative and with other statutory bodies such as Natural England to ensure that those who commit a wildlife crime are prosecuted. If anyone thinks they have witnessed a wildlife crime we would encourage them to contact Devon and Cornwall Police by reporting a crime online . If a crime is happening where someone is in danger, call 999. “
The Countryside Alliance did not comment on the Dartmoor incident.
The public can phone the League’s Animal Crimewatch service on 0300 444 1234 or email [email protected] or WhatsApp at 0755 278 8247 to report similar incidents.