Shocking new figures reveal West Country is a hot spot for fox hunting

A new set of figures released today shows the shocking scale of fox hunting still taking place in the West Country despite the ban – more than in any other region in England and Wales.

The figures – compiled by national animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports – show that hunts in West Country were seen chasing 234 foxes during the most recent fox hunting season which finished at the end of March, and the cub hunting season which preceded it. This is 52 per cent of the national total of 488 foxes that were seen being chased.

Gloucestershire had 75 incidents, Dorset 61, Somerset 55, Devon 36 and Cornwall 7 – making Gloucestershire, Dorset, Somerset and Devon the worst four counties in England and Wales.

Hunts in the West Country were also found to be the worst in the country for wreaking havoc on rural communities and anti-social behaviour with 552 incidents or 45 per cent of the national total of 1,220 incidents during the same period.

The figures are released as the Government holds a 12-week consultation to ban trail hunting, the discredited excuse used by hunts as a smokescreen to conceal the chasing and killing of foxes.

Emma Slawinski, League Against Cruel Sports chief executive, said: “These startling figures show that the brutal blood sport of fox hunting is still rife in the West Country, despite the ban, and points to the desperate need for new, stronger fox hunting laws.

“The public in the South West have the chance to have their say and to help end fox hunting once and for all by taking part in the government’s consultation to end trail hunting.”

The Gloucestershire-based Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt was the worst hunt in England and Wales having been seen chasing 44 foxes and involved in 70 ‘hunt havoc’ incidents.

The hunt havoc across the West Country includes reports of trespass; other wildlife such as deer being chased; livestock worrying; hounds running amok on railway lines and also on roads causing road traffic accidents – all activities inconsistent with the idea of following a trail, which is what hunts claim to be doing.

Just 23 or 3.7% of the 624 hunt meets monitored across England and Wales contained evidence of a trail being laid. Within those 23 reports with a trail laid, there was still evidence of 22 foxes being chased.

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 78 per cent of the public in the South West 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 said: “The time for change is now. Trail hunting needs to be banned, the loopholes in the law removed, custodial sentences made available to judges to deter would-be hunters, and measures introduced to tackle reckless or ‘accidental’ hunting.

“Let’s turn the West Country from a brutal fox hunting hot spot into a blood sports-free zone.”

More about how to take part in the consultation, and how people can make their voice heard, is available here: 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 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 England and Wales 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).