The government are now under pressure to stick with their manifesto pledge to ban trail hunting as hunt meets this Boxing Day.
They no longer call it the hunt and refer to it as the “Hounds” and in various parts of Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Oxfordshire they operate on farms or land with landowners permission for the so-called “Hounds” meeting.
Anti-campaigners are strongly urging Labour to keep to their promise to ban trail hunting, which became the new phrase after fox hunting was banned.
Trail hunting is seen as a “smokescreen” for illegal fox hunting which does see foxes killed and many farmers argue that foxes are top of the food chain and they can be a menace for farmers, especially sheep farmers.
The Countryside Alliance has warned the government that any change to the law is “completely unjustified” as the so-called “Hounds” meeting is a legal activity, they claim.
Joe Emmett, master and huntsman of the South Devon Hunt, said, “The hunt plays an important role in our local community and meets like Boxing Day are the perfect opportunity for locals and visitors to the area to come together.”
A spokesperson for the Environment Department (Defra) confirmed Labour is planning to ban trail hunting, and told the PA news agency, “This government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious animal welfare plans in a generation and that is exactly what we will do.
“We are committed to a ban on trail hunting, which is being exploited as a smokescreen to cruelly kill foxes and hares.”
Emma Judd, head of campaigns at the League Against Cruel Sports, said, “It’s 20-years since the Hunting Act was passed but, since then, figures we compile consistently suggest hunts still chase and kill foxes as they did before the ban.
“Hunts may claim they are following a pre-laid animal scent trail, known as trail hunting, but this has been shown to be nothing but a smokescreen to conceal old-fashioned illegal hunting.”
