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You can help to end trail hunting in England and Wales today.
The UK government has launched a consultation on its proposed trail hunting ban and is asking for feedback from the public and relevant groups.
Read more: Scotland And Wales Both Just Banned Greyhound Racing
A trail hunting ban was a key part of Labour’s 2024 election manifesto, and the League Against Cruel Sports has found that 62 percent of people are in favor. More than 80 percent of Britons are against fox hunting. Just 12 percent want it legalized.
Countless accounts from local people, passers-by, hunt monitors, and animal activists, along with thousands of hours of video footage, indicate that trail hunting is often simply a “smokescreen” for further illegal hunting and other criminal activities.
Emma Slawinski, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, told the BBC that a trail hunting ban could help tackle “persistent and prolific illegal hunting.”
She added, “For more than 20 years, hunts have carried on breaking the law and ignoring the ban on chasing and killing wild animals with dogs.”
Hunting animals with dogs was banned in 2004, but trail hunting, which in theory involves following a pre-laid trail, has remained legal in England and Wales. Scotland banned trail hunting in 2023 to close this “loophole” left by the original ban.
Read more: UK Hunts Have Claimed Over £2.4 Million In Taxpayer Money Since Ban
‘A pivotal moment for animal welfare’
In 2024, British nonprofit Protect the Wild found that there were more than 300 incidents of “hunt cruelty, chaos, and criminality” before the year’s hunting season even began, including animal deaths, traffic offenses, and physical and verbal attacks.
The year before, a seperate report by Protect the Wild found that nearly 600 wild animals were chased or killed during the 2023 to 2024 season. Hunt staff also illegally attempted to dig foxes out of the ground at least six times and “interfered” with badger setts, which is also an offence, on 124 different occasions.
“This is a pivotal moment for animal welfare and, as well intentioned as the original ban was, this time around we need to get it right with stronger measures to stop the cruelty and killing,” Slawinski told the BBC.
The consultation is open until June 18, 2026. Protect the Wild’s “supporter guidance” breaks down each question and provides example responses. You can find that here.
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