Want to know more about the facts behind our leaflet?
BACKGROUND (QUICK SUMMARY):
When foxhunting was banned in 2004, the hunts very quickly invented something new – something that was designed to mimic foxhunting. They called it “trail hunting”. They did this because they thought that the ban on foxhunting would be temporary. That turned out to be wishful thinking, as we know.
The idea of trail hunting was that the hunt dogs, instead of following the scent of a live animal, would follow an artificially laid scent. In actual fact, they still hunted foxes.
WHAT’S ALL THIS ABOUT A “SMOKESCREEN”?
November 2020, high-ranking members of the Hunting Office held a webinar, attended by over 100 members of hunts. In it, they described trail hunting as a “smokescreen”. Despite the fact that five different people also contributed to the training, only one of them was prosecuted – Mark Hankinson. On 15th October 2021, he was found guilty of inciting people to break the law. He appealed, and on 20 July 2022, he was successful. The judges decided that the criminal standard had “not been met”. The transcript of the ruling is below.
The hunters crowed about it and celebrated. However, it changed nothing – at least so far. Following the conviction, the biggest blow to the hunts was the permanent ban imposed on them by the National Trust, overwhelmingly voted for by their members. The ban remains, despite the successful appeal. Other landowners – Natural Resources Wales and the Lake District National Parks also continued to ban them.
The webinar was (and remains) a huge problem for the hunts. What was said cannot be unsaid. For more information, click on the links below.
https://www.actionagainstfoxhunting.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/R-v-MARK-HANKINSON-RULING.docx
But it’s not only that…
When the hunts claim they are “trail hunting” they are hoping the public will ignore all the evidence that has built up over the years since fox hunting was banned in 2004. Click here to find out about the many, many reasons why you would have to be either complicit, ignorant or in denial to believe that the hunts are trail hunting.
