Ban children from hunts and shoots

Ban Children from Participating in Hunts and Shoots

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Letter

To: The UK Government and relevant ministers

We, the undersigned, call on the UK Government to prohibit the involvement of children under the age of 18 in hunting and shooting activities. This includes trail hunting, fox hunting, gamebird shooting, and deer stalking.

This call reflects growing public concern over children being exposed to violence against animals and the psychological harm that can result from normalising such acts. It also aligns with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which the UK has ratified and is legally bound to uphold.

In 2023, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child issued General Comment No. 26, which states that “children must be protected from all forms of physical and psychological violence and from exposure to violence, such as domestic violence or violence inflicted on animals.” These are not optional recommendations. They are formal legal interpretations of the UNCRC, and the UK is expected to implement them.

Yet across the UK, children are routinely encouraged or permitted to take part in acts of animal violence for sport.

Some fox hunts begin indoctrinating children as young as four into chasing wildlife to exhaustion and death.

Children have been encouraged to watch or partake in the killing of birds, deer, and foxes under the guise of tradition or pest control.

In gamebird shooting, children are sometimes taught to use guns under the age of 10, despite major safety concerns.

In 2023, an 11-year-old boy was shot during a hunting trip in Sussex. In 2021, a 2-year-old girl died during a fox hunting incident in Newcastle.

Scientific evidence and child development experts are clear. Exposing children to violence against animals can be traumatising. It may also desensitise them to suffering, normalise domination, and reinforce harmful beliefs about the value of life. Multiple studies have linked early exposure to animal cruelty with later aggressive or antisocial behaviour.

Children have a right to safety, not only physical but emotional and psychological. Just as we protect them from witnessing domestic abuse or human-on-human violence, so too must we protect them from activities that glamourise or trivialise violence against defenceless animals.

We are calling for:
A legal ban on all under-18s taking part in hunting or shooting of animals, whether as active participants or passive attendees.

Prohibition of hunting and shooting promotional events targeting school-age children.

Specific safeguarding guidance issued to schools, youth clubs, and rural groups.

The UK has a duty, moral and legal, to take this issue seriously. Hunting and shooting animals for sport is not appropriate for children, and we urge the government to act without delay to protect young people from this outdated and harmful culture.

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Ban Children from Participating in Hunts and Shoots

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