The hunting of foxes is illegal in England under the Hunting Act 2004. But there is good evidence that this barbaric activity continues, despite being outlawed. Hunts that break the law do so under the guise of ‘trail hunting’, where fox urine is laid for hounds to follow, instead of a real fox – or so they say.
Often, hunts encourage the hounds to seek out a real fox. Once chased to exhaustion, these curious and charming animals may be ripped apart by dogs, dying slowly in agony and sheer terror.
Despite the hunting industry’s claims that it is tradition, most of the public do not support fox hunting. In fact, foxes are adored and revered for their intelligence, curious nature and parenting skills.
Despite the Labour government passing the Hunting Act in 2004, which banned the use of dogs to hunt foxes and other wild mammals in England and Wales, hunts are still breaking the law under the guise of ‘trail hunting’, where they claim to lay a trail of fox urine for them and their hounds to follow. But this is a smokescreen: hunts claim their hounds accidentally come across the scent of a live fox and are unable to prevent them tearing the fox apart.
Campaigners are calling for the Hunting Act to be strengthened by banning trail hunting, banning the ‘exemptions’ that allow hunts to kill foxes (including ‘scientific research’ or rescuing injured animals), and custodial sentences for people who break the law.
This cruel ‘sport’ attracts strong views from both sides, but polls show more of a gap between those for and against than in the past. A recent survey conducted by the League Against Cruel Sports revealed 85% of the public favour maintaining the current ban, rising from 70% in 2008.
The hunting of fox cubs, known as ‘cubbing’, is also illegal under the Hunting Act 2004, but the cruelty continues.
Hunting foxes does not come naturally to the hounds, so from August to October each year, hunts ‘train’ young hounds by getting them used to the scent of foxes and encouraging them to attack fox cubs. Cubbing takes place in smaller areas – like small woodlands – to repeatedly ‘flush out’ the cubs in the direction of the hounds.
As if this were not bad enough, ahead of the hunt meeting ‘terrier men’ block up setts and dens to ensure the poor animals have nowhere to hide. With this unfair advantage working against them, cubs can only run into the paths of those who call this ‘fun’ or ‘tradition’.
Take action for foxes
Many organisations are actively campaigning against fox hunting and pressuring the government to strengthen the Hunting Act – we stand by their work and support them.