In March 2021 Mini the cat was chased and killed by hunting hounds in a quiet residential area.
As a result, we launched the campaign for Mini’s Law, (Public and Animal Safety Bill 2021) to ensure safety to the public and animals from hunting activity, such as trail hunts and exercise of hunting hounds.
Two and a half years later and following a Parliamentary debate on the topic, we still find ourselves in a position where hunts are terrorising wildlife, domesticated animals and the public. In fact, at the very time of writing this article another incident has emerged of a dog being seriously injured after an attack from a pack of hunting hounds in Hadleigh.
Something must change. The current ban on hunting (2004 Hunting Act) isn’t working and is full of loopholes. Fortunately, we think we have the solution. And one which will not only end all hunting with hounds but ensure safety to wildlife, domesticated animals and the public.
Protect the Wild commissioned Advocates for Animals to help us develop new legislation – The Hunting of Mammals Bill.
We recently spoke to Carly Jose, Mini’s guardian, who said the following:
“In a world that’s evolved, where compassion should guide our actions, illegal fox hunting is still prevalent across the UK. My cat Mini fell victim to this barbarity, a casualty of a practice that should have faded with the past. In 2023, as we embrace progress, the persistence of fox hunting mocks our values. The existing ban fails to shield innocent lives from marauding cruelty. The hounds used by hunts, often treated as mere tools, are themselves victims of this cycle of abuse. It’s time for change and for all hunting with hounds to end. That’s why I support Protect the Wild’s call for a new proper ban on hunting that will end this madness for good.”
Our new Bill is far more than just an update of the Hunting Act 2004.
It is based on years of campaigning against hunting and the understanding that until the loopholes and exemptions inserted into the Hunting Act are removed and legislation banning hunting is absolutely clear, wildlife will never be safe from the hundreds of packs that still go out thousands of times a year.
- will at last add a ‘reckless’ hunting clause by making it a crime to ‘intentionally or recklessly’ hunt a wild mammal with a dog.
- will finally ban so-called ‘trail hunting’ by making it a crime to hunt any mammal with a dog using any animal-based scent (so hunts will no longer be able to claim it is a ‘legal activity’).
- will make it a crime for a landowner to ‘assist’ a hunt by ‘knowingly causing or permitting’ a hunting crime to take place on their land.
- will increase ‘search and seizure’ powers meaning that police will have the power to take vehicles and mobile phones from hunts in the field.
- will make relevant ‘organisations and bodies corporate’ (such as registered hunts) and officers within those organisations liable for crimes committed by hunts.
- will give courts the powers to ‘deprive’ hunts of any horses or dogs used to commit hunting crimes (with provisions to ensure the welfare of any animal taken).
- will allow the ‘forfeiture’ of any ‘hunting article’ used to commit a hunting crime.
- will enable courts to ‘disqualify’ individuals committing hunting crimes from owning or transporting animals used in hunting or making any arrangements in connection with hunting.
- will at last include ‘searching’ for an animal in the definition of hunting.
- will tighten legal defintions, for example, of who is responsible for any dog used in hunting, who owns or is responsible for land used by hunts, and removes any ‘Royal Clause’ loophole by stating that when passed the new Act will apply to ‘anything done on or in respect of land irrespective of whether it belongs to or is used for the purposes of the Crown or a Duchy’.
The Hunting of Mammals Bill will stop hunting in its tracks, and finally give wildlife much-needed protection from illegal hunting.
Please sign our petition and help us make it law.
