UK Hunts Have Claimed Over £2.4 Million In Taxpayer Money Since Ban

UK hunts have claimed more than £2.4 million in taxpayer money since hunting animals with dogs was banned in 2005, according to a new report.

Nonprofit Protect the Wild and lobby group Grantham Against Bloodsports (GAB) collaborated on the report. Glen Black, a journalist from Protect the Wild and one of the report’s authors, said that the taxpayer money that they managed to uncover was “likely only a fraction” of the total sum received by hunting groups over the years.

GAB has spent more than two decades attempting to uncover the hunting industry’s financial benefits, and approached Protect the Wild with “a trove” of documents and spreadsheets based on public records and freedom of information requests.

According to GAB and Protect the Wild, there is evidence that hunts and hunt-linked groups received at least £2,451,885.32 in taxpayer money in the 20 years since the ban. Approximately £2,000,000 of this came from farming subsidies and business rate reliefs, while nearly £500,000 came from COVID-19 support grants. While only the subsidies and grants represent actual cash paid out to hunts, all three categories represent taxpayer money that has gone towards propping up the hunting industry.

‘It wouldn’t be accepted for any other criminal pastime’

Certain hunts received far more funding than others. The Belvoir Hunt, for example, which is based near Grantham, has received £74,540.78 in subsidies and £81,821.50 in rate reliefs, as well as £39,500.14 in COVID support grants.

Along with the Quorn Hunt, Melton Borough Council has provided Belvoir with nearly £200,000. In addition, both hunts benefited indirectly via the Melton Hunt Club, which received an additional £121,101.61 in farming subsidies between 2006 and 2022.

“This issue may seem unassuming at first, but the details should highlight why this is such a vile practice. Hunting is illegal, and years of evidence has shown that very few, if any hunts abide by the Hunting Act,” said Black. “Why is it then that they’re allowed to claim financial benefits that directly support hunting wildlife and breaking the law? Benefits that come from your and my taxes. It wouldn’t be accepted for any other criminal pastime, so why should it be acceptable for hunting?”

‘No financial support should be provided’

Photo shows a fox peering out at the camera from behind a tree — Adobe Stock Activists, charities, and members of the public all say that illegal hunting has continued since the ban

Protect the Wild noted that some of the reported financial benefits were received even while members of certain hunts have been implicated in illegal hunting.

The Quorn Hunt’s former huntsman, John ‘Ollie’ Finnegan, and whipper-in Rhys Matcham, were each charged with illegal fox hunting, though prosecutors later cleared them in 2021 due to the low “prospect of success” in such cases.

In 2022, Finnegan was convicted for a separate incident, and the magistrates noted that the huntsman had a “pattern of offending over a period of time,” as reported by ITV. He was fined just £656 and has since continued hunting with the Cheshire Hunt. Last year, he was fined again for illegal hunting, this time in East Cheshire.

In 2019, the Belvoir Hunt’s terrier man and his son each pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm and actual bodily harm against two hunt monitors four years earlier. While the Belvoir Hunt accepted no liability, it agreed to pay £50,000 to the injured charity workers, who were peacefully observing the hunt for the LACS.

“Going forward, we firmly believe that no financial support should be provided to any hunt or landowner found guilty of illegal activity on subsidised land,” said GAB.