20 years on, the Hunting Act is STILL not fit for purpose, as fox hunts continue to rampage

The national animal welfare charity that helped orchestrate the introduction of the Hunting Act is using the law’s twentieth anniversary to call for tighter regulations.

League Against Cruel Sports: Hunting Act must be strengthened

The League Against Cruel Sports says the law, which gained Royal Assent on November 18, 2004, is consistently being flouted as hunts use its many loopholes to continue hunting foxes and lacks an effective deterrent such as custodial sentences. The Hunting Act came into force on February 18, 2005, three months after the legislation was passed.

The charity is also calling on the government to stand by its pledge to end so-called trail hunting, invented by fox hunts after the act was passed but which has been shown to be a mere smokescreen for old fashioned illegal hunting.

Trail hunting has 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 has also described illegal hunting as “prolific”.

Recent figures released by the charity from this year’s cub hunting season – the three-month period between 1 August and 31 October – show illegal fox hunting remains rife despite the ban.

Chris Luffingham, acting chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, said:

The Hunting Act was a landmark law and should have protected wild animals from the hunts. However, we receive report after report of illegal hunting carrying on as it did before the ban, so it’s time for change.

We are calling on the government to urgently set out its timetable for banning trail hunting, but also to strengthen the law by removing the loopholes in the Hunting Act and introducing custodial sentences for those caught breaking the law.

Cub hunting takes place in autumn in advance of the fox hunting season itself – now underway – and sees hounds being trained to track and kill young foxes.

Not only were more than 100 foxes seen by witnesses being chased by hunts nationally, but hounds were also seen causing traffic accidents on busy roads, running amok in villages and trespassing on people’s private property – all activities entirely inconsistent with following a pre-laid trail as the hunts claim they do.

Chris added that “whilst we endeavour to compile the widest picture of reports of illegal hunting we can, we know many hunts go about their business away from scrutiny, so these figures really are the tip of the iceberg”.

New powers are now needed

Polling commissioned earlier this year by the League and carried out by FindOutNow with further analysis by Electoral Calculus showed more than three quarters (76%) of the British public supported strengthening the Hunting Act.

The Labour Party manifesto contained a commitment to ban trail hunting, and current environment secretary Steve Reed pledged to eliminate fox hunting within its first term.

Chris added:

The hunts are deceiving the police, courts and public about their brutal activities, which still see foxes and other animals such as deer and hare being chased by hounds and ultimately killed.

The legal justice system needs new powers to effectively tackle this blight on our society which should have ended 20 years ago.

Featured image via the Canary