Bournemouth sea front and town centre protest calls for stronger hunting laws

Protesters took to the sea front and town centre today to urge the Bournemouth public to back a campaign to see controversial hunting laws strengthened.

A ‘huntsman’ carrying a (fake) fox covered in blood paraded through Bournemouth accompanied by the sound of baying hunt hounds.

The event was organised by national animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports to coincide with the Liberal Democrat Conference taking place in Bournemouth this week, and comes ahead of an expected government consultation on hunting laws later this year.

Further events are also being planned in Liverpool and Manchester for the Labour Party and Conservative Party conferences.

Chris Luffingham, deputy chief executive at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “Fox hunting has been illegal for 20 years and yet this blood sport continues across Dorset and the rest of the UK. The law is too weak, and as a result foxes are still being chased and killed, havoc is being inflicted on rural communities by the hunts – and it’s time for change.

“It’s time to properly strengthen the Hunting Act and end all hunting with hounds, and we urge the Dorset public to take part in the forthcoming consultation and demand an end to hunting wildlife with dogs.”

Figures published by the League following the last hunting season (August 2024 to April 2025) show Dorset had more fox hunting incidents than any other county in England and Wales.

There were 80 incidents of suspected illegal hunting with 64 reports of foxes being pursued, and 149 reports of hunts causing havoc in rural communities.

The hunt havoc reports are incidents entirely inconsistent with so-called trail hunting – whereby hunts purport to follow a pre-laid scent – such as hounds running loose on roads (including five reports of road traffic accidents caused by hunts), trespass, livestock worrying, badger sett interference and threatening and irresponsible behaviour.

The Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt, which hunts across Dorset and Somerset, and four members of which were convicted of illegal hunting earlier this year, was the worst offending hunt in the country.

Chris added: “Bournemouth’s residents, shocked by the sight of a hunter in red coat and blood-spattered fox, came up to us today to let us know they support stronger fox hunting laws as a way to end fox hunting for good.

“Their views are shared by the public across the region, and the government’s consultation should be a pivotal moment in ensuring illegal hunting is finally consigned to the dustbin of history – as it should have been two decades ago.”

Polling commissioned last year by the League and carried out by FindOutNow with further analysis by Electoral Calculus showed almost three-quarters (74 per cent) of the public in Dorset supported strengthening the Hunting Act.

Find out more about the forthcoming consultation, and how to make your voice heard, here: https://www.league.org.uk/hunting_consultation

Ends

Notes to editors

For information or interview requests, please contact the League Against Cruel Sports Press Office on 01483 524280 or email pressoffice@league.org.uk

Fox hunting was banned in England and Wales when the Hunting Act came into force on February 18, 2005.

Find Out Now interviewed 5,379 GB adults online from 26 March-2 April 2024. Data were weighted to be demographically representative of all GB adults by gender, age, social grade, other demographics and past voting patterns.

Find Out Now and Electoral Calculus are both members of the British Polling Council and abide by its rules.

A full breakdown of the data is available here: https://electoralcalculus.co.uk/blogs/DataTables_LACS_Jun2024.xlsx

The full sets of data for the 2024/2025 fox and cub hunting seasons are available on request. The figures are compiled from the charity’s confidential Animal Crimewatch service and hunt monitors’ reports by the League’s intelligence team, which is staffed by former police officers and civilian analysts.

Trail hunting, the excuse often used by hunts, has been described by temporary assistant chief constable Matt Longman, the national lead on fox hunting crime, as a “smokescreen for illegal fox hunting”. He also described illegal hunting as “prolific”.

The League Against Cruel Sports is Britain's leading charity that works to stop animals being persecuted, abused and killed for sport. The League was instrumental in helping bring about the landmark Hunting Act 2004, the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021, the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 and bans on the use of snares brought about by the Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023, and Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024.

We carry out investigations to expose law-breaking and cruelty to animals and campaign for stronger animal protection laws and penalties. We work to change attitudes and behaviour through education and manage wildlife reserves. Find out more about our work at www.league.org.uk. Registered charity in England and Wales (no.1095234) and Scotland (no.SC045533).