In an open letter signed by several British stars, Protect the Wild calls on the Labour government to make good on its commitment to ban trail hunting. The letter comes as the latest hunting season gets underway, which will undoubtedly see many wild animals chased and killed in the absence of the promised ban.
Dear Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
It has been two decades since the Labour Government’s historic Hunting Act 2004 was passed in England and Wales, which banned the hunting of wild mammals with dogs. However, in that time, it has become clear that hunters have sought to systematically undermine the Act via the deceitful pretext of “trail hunting” – a practice Labour pledged to put an end to in its election manifesto.
Hunts continue to operate across the country, frequently breaking the law by chasing and killing wild mammals under the guise of trail hunting or using loopholes and exemptions to evade prosecution.
In September, Protect the Wild released a report that illustrated the scale of the problem. It spotlighted the high levels of wildlife persecution that took place during the 2023/24 hunting season. The report showed that nearly 600 wild animals were chased or killed across the season. Foxes bore the biggest brunt, with 335 reported incidents of foxes being chased by hunts and 29 foxes reportedly killed.
Critically, these figures relate solely to monitored or witnessed activities by hunts, meaning they offer only a snapshot of the illegal persecution that is occurring in the British countryside.
It is time for change. The Labour Party committed in its election manifesto to ban trail hunting. In fact, you personally promised ahead of the election that your party would put an end to animal cruelty.
Three months have passed since your party was elected and no ban on trail hunting is yet forthcoming. Indeed, the animal welfare measures that Labour promised to voters, including the trail hunting ban, were disappointingly absent from the King’s Speech in July.
The failure of the government to act on its pledges means that high levels of wildlife persecution will undoubtedly continue in the hunting season this year, which gets fully underway in October.
To put an end to the animal cruelty and criminality that is frequently observed during hunting seasons, the Labour government must ban the smokescreen that is trail hunting.
We call on you and your government to take action to bring an end to the hunting of wild mammals with dogs once and for all.
Yours Sincerely,
Rob Pownall, founder, Protect the Wild
Dame Judi Dench, Actor
Sir Mark Rylance, Actor
Ricky Gervais, Comedian and actor
Peter Egan, Actor and animal advocate
Megan McCubbin, Zoologist and television presenter
David Oakes, Actor
Dan Richardson, Actor and filmmaker
Eduardo Gonçalves, founder, Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting
Dr Mark Jones MRCVS, Veterinarian
