Calls for stronger fox hunting laws after hunt escapes prosecution

National animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports has called for new stronger hunting laws after the police dropped a prosecution despite being presented with footage showing a hunt clearly chasing a fox.

The footage of the Middleton Hunt hounds and staff pursuing a fox – obtained by a League investigator last December – was being investigated by North Yorkshire Police who have now dropped the case on the grounds of identification issues.

The drone footage shows a fox running for its life across a number of fields from a large pack of around 30 hunt hounds near Langton in North Yorkshire. (The chase starts around 40 seconds and the drone then zooms in.)

Emma Slawinski, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “The failure to prosecute clearly highlights the need for stronger fox hunting laws.

“This case comes as the government is looking into the response from its consultation to ban trail hunting and identifying what other measures would also help end fox hunting.

“The introduction of prison sentences would allow the police more time than the six months they currently have to deal with serious and complex cases.

“Clearer rules around what it means to participate in hunting – so that more than just the unidentified person could be charged – and also the introduction of vicarious liability for hunts would make the job of the police and Crown Prosecution Service much easier.”

The League Against Cruel Sports has also called for all the exemptions in the Hunting Act to be removed as these are being exploited by both fox and deer hunts to carry on hunting as they did before the ban.

The failure to prosecute comes just days before the cub hunting season starts in August when hunts train their hounds to kill by targeting young foxes born earlier this year.

Polling commissioned by the League Against Cruel Sports and carried out independently by FindOutNow with further analysis by Electoral Calculus in March/April 2024 found that 76 per cent of the public supported stronger fox hunting laws, with only seven per cent disagreeing.

A clear majority of voters in rural as well as urban areas across the country backed new laws to stop foxes being chased by hounds and killed, with 70 per cent of people in the countryside supporting the proposal.

Emma added: “It’s time for change. It’s time for stronger and more effective fox hunting laws that make the jobs of the police and courts much easier and allow more successful prosecutions.

“This needs to be backed up by a more effective deterrent to would be hunters in the form of prison sentences, as we campaign to consign fox hunting to the history books.”

The League is urging the public to take part in an action, by contacting their MP and calling for stronger hunting laws.

Ends

Notes to editors

For information or interview requests, please contact the League Against Cruel Sports Press Office on 01483 524250 or email pressoffice@league.org.uk

Link to footage of the Middleton Hunt chasing a fox

Trail hunting has been described by Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman, the national police lead on fox hunting crime, as a “smokescreen for illegal fox hunting”. He also described illegal hunting as “prolific”.

Fox hunting was banned in Wales and England 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 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).