Chris Packham demands Labour act as new hunting report finds wildlife persecution is rife

Campaign group Protect the Wild has released a damning new report detailing the high levels of wildlife persecution and animal rights violations that took place during the 2023/24 hunting season. A Case for a Proper Ban on Hunting shows that nearly 600 wild animals were chased or killed over the course of season, some two decades on from the hunting of live wild animals being outlawed.

Responding to the report’s findings, wildlife TV presenter and conservationist Chris Packham called on the Labour Party government to act. He said:

A single wild animal being chased or killed is one too many. A single disturbance of a badger sett is one too many. Attacks on wildlife monitors, the public, havoc on roads- the numbers are clear- trail hunting is nothing but a lawless, cruel ‘free for all’ for an arrogant rural mob.

We have the report, what we need next is a reaction from Labour. The overwhelming evidence of the cruelty and criminality involved in fox hunting necessitates urgent legislative action.

A damning report into wildlife persecution and crime

This is the second annual report by Protect the Wild on the state of the hunting industry in England and Wales. You can read it here.

It covers the period 1 July 2023 to 30 April 2024 across the two countries and is based on 2312 reports published by hunt saboteur and monitor groups, newspapers, and members of the public.

Key findings from the report include:

• There were 364 reported incidents of fox hunting across the season, with hunts chasing 335 foxes and killing a further 29 individuals. Somerset’s Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt accounted for 12.83% of the total reported fox chases and kills.
• There was a total of 150 reported incidents of hunts chasing deer and 26 cases of hunts killing deer.
• Reports during the season revealed that hunts chased 40 hares and killed one individual. Most of these incidents were due to foxhounds going after hares while searching for a fox.
• Dig outs were reported on six occasions across the season. This is where hunts block holes to prevent foxes who have taken shelter underground from escaping, before then digging them out.
• Relatedly, hunts interfered with badger setts on 124 occasions, according to reports. Setts are typically interfered with, such as their entrance holes being blocked, to stop foxes taking shelter underground.

It’s important to note that these findings relate solely to monitored or witnessed activities by hunts. Protect the Wild’s Glen Black, who authored the report, said:

The 2,312 reports that were reviewed to gather data for the report represent just a portion of the total number of hunting days throughout the 2023/24 season. An exact figure for hunting days isn’t publicly available, but Protect the Wild estimates there were likely over 19,000 when taking all hunts and the early season meets, such as for cubbing, into account.

The conclusions drawn in the report, based on the data on what was observed, offer a shocking statistic: nearly 45% of hunt meets involved some sort of anti-wildlife, anti-social or criminal action. Taking even just the 587 incidents where hunts reportedly chased or killed wildlife equates to roughly one-in-four observed meets.

Abuse and aggression towards anyone anti-hunting

Non-wildlife focused incidents highlighted in the report include aggression from hunts towards saboteurs, monitors, and sometimes members of the public. In total, there were 239 incidents of minor attacks, ranging from racist and transphobic slurs to pushing and shoving. 16 further attacks were considered major, which included the destruction of vehicles and causing serious injuries to activists or members of the public.

The report also found high levels of incidents involving ‘hunt havoc’, meaning situations involving hunts on public roads and properties. In all, there were 280 incidents of road havoc, 327 incidents of traffic offences, and 251 incidents of trespass across the season.

Some constabularies have started taking the anti-social behaviour of hunts seriously as a crime and the report spotlights the progress made by police forces in this regard. But the chaos that hunts are causing in the countryside is costing the public money in policing costs, as the report also documents.

According to the data reviewed, 351 police units attended hunt meets throughout the season, not including Boxing Day events. The financial burden of this policing is exemplified by Leicestershire Police’s expenditure of £7,350.78 on Operation Enlighten, which oversees the constabulary’s response to hunting and anti-hunting matters, and the £14,322 spent on policing the Kent Hounds’ Boxing Day parade.

Labour must act to protect wildlife

This second annual report from Protect the Wild comes nearly 20 years after the Hunting Act was passed to end the hunting of mammals for fun. It shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that, as Black says, the hunting industry is “committed to terrorising and murdering wildlife.” The need for a new hunting law couldn’t be clearer.

Protect the Wild commissioned Advocates for Animals to prepare a new draft bill in 2023 to replace the Hunting Act. The resulting Hunting of Mammals Bill can give Britain’s wildlife the much-needed protection it needs from the ongoing persecution outlined in this report.

Protect the Wild is calling on the Labour government to replace the Hunting Act urgently. Its founder Rob Pownall says:

The evidence is there for all to see. Don’t be fooled by the laughable ‘National Trail Hunting Day’. The hunts are very much still at it and until this govt works to bring about legislative change then we will continue to see the illegal persecution of wildlife across the country. It’s time for a new proper ban on hunting with hounds.

Featured image via the Canary