Hunting with dogs: Did the Hunting Act 2004 really stop the persecution of British wildlife?

Lex Rigby from Viva! investigates what has been happening in the countryside since the passing of the Hunting Act 2004 – which outlawed hunting with dogs

Opposition to the cruel hunting of wild animals with dogs dates back almost certainly as long as hunting itself. Yet it took close to a century of political campaigning for legislation to pass that would supposedly eradicate such blood sports in England and Wales.

The Hunting Act 2004 came into force on 18 February 2005, a couple of years after the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 – prohibiting hunting with hounds in Scotland.

By essentially making hunting with dogs illegal in Great Britain, the creation of these laws marked a pivotal moment in the history of the animal rights movement.

But how successful have they been in protecting wildlife and reducing the number of animals brutally killed for fun?

The short answer is – not very. But a surprising turn of events that occurred in 2020 suggests that, finally, the end of hunting is nigh.

Do people still hunt with dogs?

The purpose of the Act was to ban the hunting of wild mammals with dogs, as well as all hare coursing events – where hares are pursued, caught and killed by greyhounds who chase the animals by sight rather than scent.

However, as with most laws put in place to protect animals, exemptions apply and the pro-hunt lobby has been quick to exploit the loopholes and develop activities that circumvent the rules.

When the Act was passed, hunts created what they call ‘trail-hunting’. This activity involves people on foot or horseback with hounds supposedly following an animal-based scent (usually fox urine) laid along a predetermined path.

It allegedly replicates ‘traditional’ hunting, but without a fox or other quarry being chased, injured or killed.

Crucially, the trail-layer is not meant to inform the hunt master or anyone else controlling the hounds of where the scent has been laid, so that if the hounds end up pursuing a live animal, the hunt can then claim ignorance and excuse unintended deaths as accidents.

Unsurprisingly, running around the countryside with hounds trained to follow the scent of fox urine does indeed lead to many ‘accidents’ and on the face of it, hunting has therefore changed very little since the Act.

Trails are said to be laid through a fox’s natural habitat, taking the exact same routes these animals follow – in hedgerows, small copses and thick woods – in essence to simulate a real chase.

It is claimed that often trails are not even laid and trail-layers only appear when the hunt is being watched.

Alastair Jackson, a former Director of the Hunting Office (the governing body of fox hunting), said: “While the Hunting Act is in place, one of the several legal alternatives to provide activity for hunts is trail-hunting […]

“It is one of the ways to keep the infrastructure of hunts intact until such time as repeal of the Hunting Act can be achieved.”

First-hand accounts from hunt saboteurs and monitors in the field, as well as wildlife investigators, report the same thing – that 99 per cent of the time, no genuine trail-hunting has been witnessed.

The truth behind trail-hunting in the UK

The farce that is trail-hunting has never been a very well-kept secret in both the anti and pro-hunt circles.

But then, on 13 November 2020, a national Hunt Saboteurs Association exposé laid the truth bare to the general public, when a series of leaked online training webinars, by the Hunting Office to around 150 hunt staff from across the UK, were played on ITV News.

The hunting community experienced a major blow to its fragile reputation – of which the repercussions are still being felt.

In these webinars, chaired by Conservative Peer Lord Mancroft, the director of the Masters of Foxhounds Association, Mark Hankinson, can be clearly heard describing trail-hunting as a ‘smokescreen’ to mask illicit activities.

He also referred to the bird of prey exemption in the Act, which allows hounds to flush out wild mammals for birds to hunt, as a “terribly good wheeze” to flout the rules.
Hunt saboteurs had been saying it for years, but there it was straight from the horse’s mouth – evidence of a nationwide conspiracy.

The ban on hunting with dogs

During the huge media storm that followed the publication of the leaked videos, the National Trust, United Utilities, Forestry England, the Lake District National Park Authority and Natural Resources Wales all suspended hunting licenses – removing access to around 200 million acres of land previously used for ‘trail-hunting’.

Later, the National Trust made the suspension a permanent ban after an overwhelming majority of its 5.6 million members voted in favour of ending hunting with hounds on land owned by the Trust. Natural Resources Wales were another to make it permanent.

The future of hunting in the UK

Almost one year after the publication of the webinars, Hankinson was found guilty of intentionally encouraging or assisting others to commit offences under the Hunting Act 2004, contrary to Section 44 of the Serious Crimes Act 2007, and fined £1,000 along with a contribution of £2,500 towards legal costs.

Telling hunts how to act illegally is apparently a step too far for those tasked with upholding the Hunting Act, but Hankinson, of course, denied the charge and has since submitted an appeal.

It seems the damage has already been done, however, and hunting is leaving an increasingly bad taste in the nation’s mouths.

In the field though, that means rising frustration, more violence and further unnecessary deaths and it’s as important as ever to support those directly intervening in wildlife crime.

Hunt Saboteurs need you and your support to stop the killing, so please do check out your local group!

Hunting on horseback is cruel on multiple levels, but should we be riding horses at all? Get the answer to the question: ‘is horse riding vegan?‘

Featured photo © dageldog via Getty Images