15,000 signatures to Downing Street
The government’s Animal Welfare Strategy, published in the run-up to Christmas, contains a clear commitment to hold a consultation to ban so-called trail hunting – the excuse created by hunts to conceal their brutal activities from the public, police and courts.
The government committed to do this early in the New Year, but as we move into February the launch has still not happened. To remind them that the public considers this a priority, we’ll be delivering a letter to 10 Downing Street this month - signed by over 15,000 compassionate animal advocates like you - calling for the government to act.
Guerilla advertising campaign
Thanks to your generosity, in recent weeks politicians were exposed to an innovative ‘clean advertising’ campaign just outside parliament.
The call for stronger hunting laws was cleaned onto dirty pavements using stencils and industrial strength pressure cleaners – an environmentally-friendly way to remind them that urgent action is needed to help protect animals.
Pictured below is actress, animal-rights campaigner and League supporter Katie Amess, whose father was the late Southend West MP Sir David Amess, himself a passionate advocate to end fox hunting.
Boxing day media blitz
Boxing Day has traditionally been the fox hunts’ biggest day of the year, with their ceremonial parades through towns and villages garnering much media attention. In recent years however that media coverage shifted, telling the story of cruelty inflicted on foxes by the hunts, rather than focusing on their pomp and pageantry.
The scale of the media coverage was huge. Thanks to your support of the League’s PR team, nearly 600 newspaper articles and TV and radio bulletins ran the message that the time for change is now.
Majority support a ban on trail hunting
You are not alone in thinking trail hunting should be banned. New donor-funded polling shows a clear majority across the UK – from all parties, and the countryside as well as in towns and cities - supports such a ban.
The poll showed 62 per cent of the public think trail hunting should be illegal, more than double the 24 per cent that think it should be legal. As the promised public consultation on trail hunting is further delayed, this timely polling is helping to remind politicians that their constituents believe it’s time to consign this cruelty to the history books.
Teaming up with the police
The League’s intelligence team, funded by our supporters, has teamed up with the police’s National Wildlife Crime Unit and other animal welfare charities to tackle a disturbing crime. Fuelled by boasts on social media, teenagers are killing or injuring waterfowl with powerful catapults.
Chairing a new working group, we will challenge the ease with which these catapults can be bought without any age restrictions. We’re also encouraging the public to report incidents to the police and the League’s donor-funded Animal Crimewatch service to get a better understanding of the scale of this insidious problem.
You’re helping to restore nature
The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. We have lost many species due to direct persecution, in some cases at the hands of gamekeepers aiming to protect their commercial interests at the expense of the public’s interest in a healthy ecosystem.
Fortunately, there are people doing great things to redress the balance, and thanks to your generous support, the League is playing its part. On the League’s wildlife reserves exciting projects have seen white storks, turtle doves - and most recently pine martens - reintroduced to the wild.
The Two Moors Pine Marten project released pine martens onto Dartmoor in 2024 and Exmoor in 2025 and already a pine marten wearing a tracking collar has been caught on camera on a League wildlife reserve.
European beavers have also returned to the project areas after an absence measured in centuries. They are busy doing what they do best, building dams that hold back and filter water before allowing it to slowly release. In the process they are helping to store carbon and creating new habitats for wildlife to exploit.
