Hunting
In February 2005, hunting with packs of dogs became illegal. This means that hunts cannot encourage a pack of hounds to chase a fox and then rip the fox to pieces. However, hunts are allowed to send two hounds into a wood to ‘flush out’ a diseased fox into the open, or terriermen can ‘digout’ a fox who has gone to ground, and shoot the fox dead.
Mink hunting has also been banned as has hare coursing and stag hunting. This is a huge and long overdue step in eliminating animal cruelty. It remains to be seen whether or not the law will be enforced properly.
It is suspected that many hunts continue to hunt illegally. In March 2008 the BBC’s Inside Out programme investigated the Heythrop Hunt and found evidence of serious lawbreaking. An undercover BBC team joined League Against Cruel Sports hunt-monitors as they attempted to monitor the hunt’s activities. The film showed a fox being chased and killed by the hunt.
Watch the footage on the Inside Out website
In February 2008 (on the third anniversary of the Hunting Act) a MORI poll commissioned by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the League Against Cruel Sports and the RSPCA revealed that 73% of people want the ban to stay in force.
What happened in traditional hunting?
Foxes and deer were hunted by people on horseback. The hunt masters (redcoats) sent the pack (the group of hounds) into wooded or scrubby areas (called coverts) to pick up the scent of the animal they were hunting and ‘flush’ the animal out. The hunted animal would then bolt from the woodland and towards the open land in order to start running away from the dogs. The hunt used ‘point riders’ who positioned themselves on each corner or edge of the wood, so that they could spot the hunted animal as he or she tried to escape.
The idea was that the hounds made the hunted animal run for as long as possible so that the horseback riders (the ‘field’) and the people in charge (the redcoats) got as good a gallop as possible. They chased the animal until he or she was exhausted and the hounds then killed the hunted animal (called the ‘quarry’), sometimes ripping him or her to pieces.
Want to know more?
- Read our Hunting factsheet
- Find out more on the League Against Cruel Sports website
