National Trail Hunting Day slammed as a deception

National animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports has slammed an upcoming ‘National Trail Hunting Day’ organised by blood sports apologists as an attempt to deceive the public, police and government – and convince them the activity isn’t just a smokescreen for the chasing and killing of foxes despite the ban.

The event promoting so-called trail hunting – the excuse often used in court by hunts – is being held this Saturday, October 17 as part of a ‘Newcomers to Trail Hunting Week’ and is organised by the Countryside Alliance and British Hound Sports Association (BHSA).

Figures compiled by the Hunt Saboteurs Association show that six fox hunts and three hare hunts that fall under the jurisdiction of the BHSA governing bodies have been convicted of illegal hunting since the beginning of last year.

New League Against Cruel Sport figures show that 53 foxes have been seen being chased during the most recent cub hunting season starting in August 2026.

The League published figures earlier this year showing 488 foxes were reported being pursued during the last fox and cub hunting season ending in March 2026.

The same report showed that the vast majority of hunts never even bothered to lay a trail. Just 23 or 3.7% of the 624 hunt meets reported across England and Wales last season contained evidence of a trail being laid, and within those 23 reports where a trail was actually laid, there was still evidence of 22 foxes being chased.

Emma Slawinski, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “National Trail Hunting Day is a cynical attempt to hide from the public, criminal justice system and government that fox hunting is still taking place despite the ban.

“We get reports of hundreds of foxes being chased every season and this is just the tip of the iceberg as this is just from the hunts being monitored.

“What happens on these trail hunting days is in stark contrast to the brutality being shown by fox hunts up and down the UK which are routinely chasing and killing foxes as they did before the ban.”

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: “We are calling on the government to act and fulfil its pledge to ban trail hunting, bringing forward legislation at least by the next parliamentary session.

“We also need stronger hunting laws which contain a powerful deterrent in the form of prison sentences for those that break the law, a new mechanism for preventing hunts claiming their kills are accidental, and the removal of all the loopholes in the Hunting Act.”

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

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.

The full set of data for the 2025/2026 fox hunting seasons is available on request.

The figures were compiled by the League Against Cruel Sports intelligence team staffed by former police officers and civilian analysts – and consist of incidents reported into its confidential Animal Crimewatch service, evidence obtained by its field operatives, and from reports by hunt saboteurs and hunt monitors.

The League believes the figures are just the tip of the iceberg, showing only those hunts being monitored, with hunt behaviour in many remote rural areas and incidents of animals being chased and torn apart going unreported.

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).