The hunting act needs to be strengthened to properly protect its forgotten animals
The government’s announcement to consult on a trail hunting ban is welcome but stops short of protecting all species of wildlife that are still illegally chased and killed by hunts and their hounds. Emma Slawinski, chief executive at the League Against Cruel Sports, writes about the forgotten animals of the Hunting Act
For almost every organisation working to end the hunting of animals with hounds, the fox is icon. As the poster child of the campaign against hunting, foxes have done a lot of heavy lifting to get this issue on the political agenda. And rightly so, as the majority of hunts in the UK, both pre and post the Hunting Act, would identify themselves as fox hunters, using fox hounds, including those now using the smokescreen of trail hunting to cover-up their persecution of foxes.
Even the League Against Cruel Sport’s own iconic logo is based on a fox’s paw.
But there are many other animals hunted with hounds in the UK that are sometimes forgotten in a debate dominated by foxes. They are wonderful animals, the stars of children’s stories and a genuine thrill to glimpse in their natural environment.
Of course, the protection from harm offered to a wild animal shouldn’t rely on their ability to be photogenic, but there is no doubt that the public would be horrified to discover they are being hunted to their deaths for fun. 
“The public would be horrified to discover they are being hunted to their deaths for fun”
Deer
“But deer hunting is banned?” Just as weak provisions and loopholes in the Hunting Act make it possible for fox hunters to carry on killing foxes, deer hunters use an exemption to pretend to be ‘rescuing’ deer from suffering or conducting ‘scientific research’. In reality, they are using hounds to track stags or hinds for up to six hours before the exhausted animal is shot by one of the huntsmen who have been following on horses or quad bikes. Monitoring by organisations like the League Against Cruel Sports shows that these hunts are exploiting loopholes in the law to carry on hunting deer just as they always have.
Mink and otters
Both mink and otter hunting are banned in the UK, with mink being covered by the Hunting Act 2004 and otters being protected in 1978 due to depleted numbers – from hunting. As with foxes and deer, we have evidence that mink hunting continues despite the ban, and we believe otter hunting is resurgent. In these hunts the hounds are typically followed on foot.
Hares
Despite being less well known than fox hunting, before the Hunting Act a staggering one in three hunts was a hare hunt. Unlike foxes, hares don’t seek refuge underground. They are also very tied to their own territory so typically will run above ground in wide circles when being hunted. They might manage to keep this up for an hour before being caught by the hounds and torn apart, with any remaining body parts being taken by the huntsmen as trophies.
Time for change
These forgotten animals might not catch the headlines in the same way as fox hunting, but the same weaknesses of legislation are failing them. The announcement by the government of a consultation on trail hunting is welcome, but this must cover the full breadth of the Hunting Act and allow all its loopholes and exemptions to be ended. The time has come to consign all hunting of animals with hounds to the history books.
For more information, please visit www.league.org.uk/forgotten-victims
