Exposing the savagery of fox hunting and links to the Festival of Hounds

Campaigners from national animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports were protesting in Peterborough today to expose the links between the city’s Festival of Hounds and the savage and illegal blood sport of fox hunting.

A League ‘huntsman’ carrying a (fake) fox covered in blood paraded through Cathedral Square accompanied by the sound of baying hunt hounds, speaking to the Peterborough public about the need for stronger fox hunting laws.

It follows the recent conviction of the Fitzwilliam Hunt’s whipper-in, Jacob Whalley, with the local Fitzwilliam Hunt – for illegal hunting, and comes as the government is due to hold a consultation on fox hunting in the coming months. A second member of the hunt is due to go on trial later this year.

Emily Lawrence, campaigns manager with the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “The Festival of Hounds is a charade masking the savagery of blood sports and fox hunting.

“Earlier this month a staff member of the Fitzwilliam Hunt, which received a prize at the Festival of Hounds last year, was convicted of fox hunting, which has been illegal for 20 years.”

The Fitzwilliam Hunt has strong connections to the Festival of Hounds – from next year it will host the event at its Milton Park home – but it is mired in controversy.

The most recent conviction is the third in just seven years – in 2023 the Fitzwilliam huntsman Shaun Parrish was admitted illegally hunting with dogs near Peterborough and in 2018 former huntsman George Adams lost his appeal against a conviction for illegal hunting.

In 2020, the hunt was seen chasing a fox though Peterborough Crematorium while a funeral was taking place, leaving mourners distraught as 20 to 30 hounds chased their howling quarry running for its life. In a separate incident, the hunts hounds ran dangerously amok on a busy road, risking the safety of road users. Sadly, a hound was reportedly killed.  

Figures compiled by the League from the most recent fox and cub hunting seasons contained six separate reports of the Fitzwilliam Hunt chasing foxes.

Emily added: “The Festival of Hounds is an attempt to sanitise fox hunting and conceal the animal cruelty still taking place in the Cambridgeshire countryside.

“While these convictions show the law can work, there are still too many weaknesses in it that allow illegal hunting to take place.

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

“This is a pivotal moment for animal welfare and together we can see fox hunting finally banned for good.”

Ends

Notes to editors

For more information or interview requests please contact the League Against Cruel Sports Press Office on 07496 496454 (24hrs) or email pressoffice@league.org.uk

The full sets of data for the 2024/2025 fox and cub hunting seasons are available on request.

Fox hunting was banned 20 years ago in England and Wales when the Hunting Act came into force on February 18, 2005.

Polling commissioned by the League and conducted independently by Find Out Now and Electoral Calculus across Britain in March and April last year showed nearly three quarters of the electorate in the constituency of Peterborough (73%) were in favour of strengthening hunting laws.

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

Trail hunting, the excuse often used by hunts, has been described by temporary assistant chief constable Matt Longman, the most senior police officer in England with responsibility for fox hunting crime, as a “smokescreen for illegal fox hunting”. He also described illegal hunting as “prolific”.

The evidence used to convict the Fitzwilliam Hunt in 2025 was gathered by the Beds and Bucks Hunt Sabs and in 2023 by the Peterborough Hunt Sabs.

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 and the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021. 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).