Campaigners target “home of hunting” as part of anti-hunt campaign

Press release, for immediate release 

Wednesday, December 3, 2025 

Campaigners from national animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports have today taken the fight over the future of hunting directly to the home of the so-called sport’s governing body.  

The League has been lobbying the government to tighten existing hunting laws – which saw hunting with hounds banned 20 years ago – as foxes, deer and other wildlife are still killed by hunts and their hounds.  

Today a ‘huntsman’ carrying a fake fox covered in blood spoke to shoppers and even carol singers in Cirencester’s Market Square, before heading to the headquarters of the British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) nearby. 

The League’s Campaigns Manager, John Petrie, who donned the huntsman’s outfit and carried the fox, said: “We’ve brought our campaign to the home of hunting, Cirencester, to speak to the public about the scale of illegal hunting still taking place in this country, 20 years after the ban.  

“We were incredibly pleased to find support in the town today, with people agreeing with us that it’s time for change and time for hunting laws to be strengthened.” 

The Government is due to launch a consultation in the new year on banning so-called trail hunting, which the courts and senior police officers describe as a “smokescreen” for old fashioned illegal hunting, and which was only introduced after the ban took hold in 2005. 

Cumbria Police have arrested 16 people following an incident on November 8 within the Lake District National Park involving the Coniston Foxhounds and Teme Valley Hunt, both of which are governed by the BHSA. No charges have yet been brought. 

The arrests follow the publication of footage captured by the Lake District Hunt Saboteurs which appears to show a fox being dug out from where it had gone to ground, carried some distance, and then released to the hounds.  

The League understands this number of arrests linked to suspected hunting offences is unprecedented in the UK. 

The charity has also published a new set of figures which show the shocking scale of fox cub hunting in Gloucestershire, between August and November, during which hunts train young hounds hunt ahead of the man fox hunting season. 

The figures showed 22 reports of foxes being chased – the highest of any county in England and Wales – and 52 reports of hunts wreaking havoc on rural communities. 

The hunt havoc in Gloucestershire included trespass on private property, attacks on people’s pets and other wildlife species, livestock worrying, hounds loose on roads, and hunts causing road traffic accidents – activities that are entirely inconsistent with following a trail. 

• More information on the forthcoming consultation and how to take part is available 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. 

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

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).