Trail hunting to be banned under new animal welfare push
The government announced it was banning track hunting to prevent the activity being used as a cover for fox hunting.
Any ban would raise questions about the future of around 170 hunting packs in England and Wales, which would face a dilemma over whether to continue in a different form or fold.
Opponents of the hunt, who insist the ban on fox hunting is routinely flouted, celebrated the announcement, which brought to a head years of bitter conflict over whether real track hunting should take place.
The proposal, which is Labour’s election manifesto pledge, forms a key part of the government’s long-awaited animal welfare strategy and will be unveiled on Monday
A public consultation on banning trail hunting is planned for early next year but a spokesman for governing body the British Greyhound Sporting Association (BHSA) said Independent: “The hunts will continue to follow what the law requires of them.”
Some hunts have already approached clear-booted hunting groups with the intention of joining them, such as drag hunts that do not chase foxes. Independent It was said.
The Hunting Act 2004 made it illegal to hunt wild mammals, and hunters say they stay within the law by following scent trails rather than animals. But since then, video evidence has repeatedly shown that some hunts are still catching and killing foxes.
In a webinar attended by hunting masters in 2020, hunting leading figures discussed how to create a “smokescreen” around their activities and avoid prosecution. In its new strategy, the government acknowledges widespread concern that tracing is a smokescreen.
Hunters chased or killed nearly 600 wildlife during the 2023-24 winter season, according to a report by the anti-hunting organization Protect the Wilderness.
Drone footage from Northants Hunt Saboteurs this week allegedly shows a hunter scooping something into a black sack and carefully handing it to another rider. The Hunt saboteurs who took the footage claimed that they put the fox killed by the hounds in a sack.
When shown the images, a BHSA spokesman said it was too vague to identify the person, object or context. “It would be inappropriate to comment on material that was secretly filmed and presented without verification. To the best of our knowledge, Cottesmore has complied with the law and our regulations,” he said.
Earlier this week the BHSA ordered that future terrier males should not take part in “road hunt” days, plugging ground holes to prevent foxes escaping from the chase; this was interpreted by some as a last-ditch effort to clean up the image of hunting.
The Hunt Saboteurs Association is concerned that it will be difficult to retrain hounds to stop sniffing out foxes, even if some hunts join forces with drag hunting groups.
And a spokesman said they feared some unregistered hunts, mostly led by farmers, would “go underground” and continue hunting in defiance of the ban.
He said: “We are hopeful of a proper ban on trail hunting which will close loopholes in the law and remove the smokescreen of hunting.
“This season we have seen wild animals being chased and killed under the guise of ‘road hunting’. A ban is long overdue to end the brutal cruelty caused by hound hunting. We will wait to see the outcome of the consultation, but it is clear that much stronger measures are urgently needed to protect wildlife.”
A spokesman for the Countryside Alliance said of plans to ban trail hunting: “The last Labor government said hunts had to be followed by an artificial scent when they spent hundreds of hours banning traditional hunting. It would be perverse if they banned that now.”
They did not respond when asked whether the hunts would comply with or violate the ban on trail hunting.
A BHSA spokesman said it would be premature to speculate about what hunts could do or how the ban might be interpreted until there was clear advice.
“Trail hunting remains legal and we do not accept the proposition that it should be banned. “This, along with more than ten thousand hunting dogs and thousands of horses kept specifically for this legal purpose, supports livelihoods, keeps small rural businesses going and keeps communities together.
“It’s more than just entertainment; it’s part of the economic and social lifeblood of the countryside, something that can be seen again when Boxing Day draws huge crowds.”
