The killing of a fox during a trail hunt in Cheshire has renewed calls for the 2004 Hunting Act to be strengthened.
Police are investigating whether any laws were broken when the fox was killed in January. But animal welfare campaigners are now saying the law is itself inadequate to protect against fox killings.
The Hunting Act prohibits the deliberate hunting of foxes with dogs. A CTRL ALT investigation has found how hunting groups can exploit weaknesses in the law to get away with killing foxes anyway.
Since the ban, hunting groups have continued to go on ‘trail hunts’, where trails are pre-determined. The Countryside Alliance says hounds are stopped when it becomes clear they are no longer following the pre-laid scent.
But according to critics, trails are laid in directions where foxes are likely to be found – and the law doesn’t do enough to deter careless behaviour.
“[Huntsmen] can essentially claim any chase was an accident, that they lost control of the hounds, or that they had no idea the fox was there,” Nick Weston, head of campaigns for the League Against Cruel Sports, told CTRL ALT.
Cheshire Hunt Saboteurs said at a public meeting in February loopholes in the Hunting Act made it “nearly impossible” to prosecute offenders. An independent review carried out by Cheshire Police found it was difficult to “secure sufficient evidence” for convictions.
That’s why campaigners have called for a ‘recklessness’ clause to be added to the Hunting Act. They believe such a clause would make it much easier to convict hunting groups for killing foxes.
“If you’re taking a pack of dogs that are trained to chase foxes out to the countryside, where foxes are, you can quite comfortably call that reckless behaviour,” Nick said.
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