Boxing Day hunt: Government ‘committed’ to banning trail hunting

Hunting with hounds has been a tradition in parts of the UK for centuries, but the 2004 Hunting Act placed restrictions on the practice.

The act banned the use of dogs to hunt wild mammals – including foxes, hares, deer and mink – across England and Wales.

Traditional hunts have now been replaced with trail hunting, which involves laying a trail using a rag soaked in animal scent.

It mimics the scent of a wild animal, so the hounds chase that instead of a fox, for example. The intention is to replicate the pursuit across the countryside, without the need to kill animals.

In a statement, the government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: “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”.

In some cases, however, the practice is being “exploited as a smokescreen to cruelly kill foxes and hares”, a spokesperson for Defra added.

Since the beginning of August, there were 186 reports of foxes pursued by hunts and 220 relating to suspected illegal hunting incidents, according to the League Against Cruel Sports.

The organisation’s head has called for the government to strengthen existing legislation to avoid “loopholes”, including by introducing custodial sentences to those hunting wild animals with dogs.

Further changes to the law have been criticised as “completely unjustified”, with the Countryside Alliance saying trail hunting is a legal activity that brings rural communities together.

The alliance’s chief executive, Tim Bonner, said the ban would be an “act of spite” that would be negatively received by the countryside.

He said there were 12,000 hunting days each year that are legal and legitimate.

The issue of trail hunting is “irrelevant” to most people, Mr Bonner added, and it would be “extraordinary” for Labour to focus on given the poor state of its relationship with rural communities.