…… and with a General Election just months, the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS); and all of us, want to see all the loopholes which the hunts are using under the guise of ‘Trail Hunting’ hut down for good.

Fox hunts have been using the excuse that they are ‘trail hunting’, a deception invented by them after the legislation to ban hunting was introduced, to fool the police, courts, politicians and the public about what they are really up to; which is targeting and killing foxes.

Last year, the government in Scotland, which has different legislation on fox hunting to England and Wales; banned trail hunting and toughened its hunting laws.

In 2023, Chief Superintendent Matt Longman, England’s most senior police figure on fox hunting crime, highlighted that hunts are claiming to be trail hunting, when in reality, they are using the practice as a ‘smokescreen’ for the continued illegal persecution of animals. He described illegal fox hunting as “prolific” and said the law needed “revisiting”.

With a General Election just round the corner now, the LACS will be pressing all the main political parties to include a manifesto commitment (ie what they will do if elected) to indicate their policy position to strengthen the Hunting Act and BAN trail hunting in England and Wales.

The LACS have already had backing from the Time for Change Coalition Against Hunting which currently consists of 35 animal welfare charities. People in the countryside are fed up with fox hunts and their anti-social behaviour, in which they trespass on people’s property, hunt over roads and railway lines, and intimidate Sabs brave enough to stand up to them.

In January, a helper at an animal sanctuary near Loughborough, watched in horror as the Quorn Hunt rampaged through neighbouring fields with several foxes; which it had nursed back to health and released locally, were sent running for their lives. At one point, the hounds gathered in a crazed scrum, yelping frenziedly, indicating that they had caught one of the foxes and were tearing it apart.

This is the tragic reality and it is now time for change.

Above photo – Mark (WAV) and East Kent Hunt Sabs.

Please visit league.org.uk/strengthen-hunting-act to see more.

For a great day out to see and help wildlife and the LACS, please support ‘Baronfest’ on Saturday 13th July 2024. 10am – 6pm; Tickets include all materials for issues, lunch and refreshments. Hurry, space is limited !

The LACS is 100 years old this year, 2024.

Cheers ! -for the foxes; Mark / LACS

Stop the Bloodbath – Do the right thing politicians. Your future depends on it !!!

At the old office I used to get a wild fox come in, climb the stairs and sit with me while I worked. After a while, he would go downstairs, through the door and return to the wild. My friend the fox.

I love taking photos of foxes: All following photos – Mark (WAV).