On 1st April an announcement was made during a Westminster debate which confirmed that the government plans to consult on its manifesto commitment to ban trail hunting.
The Adjournment Debate, secured by Perran Moon, the Labour MP for Camborne and Redruth, called upon the government to strengthen the Hunting Act 2004, including banning trail hunting, removing exemptions and introducing custodial sentences for those who break the law.
He stated that “animal cruelty should have no place in modern, progressive 21st-century Britain. Having spent most of my life living in rural areas, I have witnessed at first hand the brutal reality of hunting with dogs. Contrary to the views of some, that opinion is shared by many rural residents. It is imperative that as lawmakers we address the concerns surrounding trail hunting, particularly in light of the Hunting Act 2004 and the Government’s manifesto commitments.
Fox hunting is not a sport.[in my view] It is an activity that involves tracking, chasing and killing a fox, typically using a pack of hounds and riders on horseback. It was banned by the last Labour Government through Hunting Act 2004. Drag hunting is an activity similar to traditional foxhunting, but with a key difference: instead of hunting a live fox, a scent trail is artificially laid for the hounds to follow. The scent is usually created using a mixture of aniseed and other substances, and it is dragged along a predetermined route. Just to be clear, I have no issues with drag hunting. “
When closing the debate, Defra Minister Daniel Zeichner said: “The Government were elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans in a generation to improve animal welfare, and that is exactly what we will do. Banning trail hunting is only one part of that.”
In response to a request from Perran Moon MP to give a specific timeline to deliver the government’s manifesto commitment to ban trail hunting he continued: “We are working to move this forward and will deliver a thorough consultation later this year to ensure that the legislation that is brought forward is effective in practice and that its impact is understood.”
