Survey on Residential Hunting:
2021
76% agree hunting in residential areas should be illegal...
A poll conducted by Survation on behalf of Protect the Wild revealed that 76% of those surveyed think ‘conducting hunting activities in residential areas should be illegal’.
12% of respondents said they believed hunting activities in residential areas should be legal with the remaining 12% stating they didn’t know.
The question was posed in relation to the Mini’s Law campaign backed by Protect the Wild. It follows the incident involving Mini the cat who was killed by out of control hounds from the Western Hunt in Cornwall.
Full details of the 2021 Survation survey:
The question posed to the 1,041 residents aged 18+ living in the UK was as follows:
“A March 2021 report by Protect the Wild found that every two weeks there is a reported incident involving hunting hounds and domestic animals /livestock.
In a recent incident, a cat was killed. In a statement, the hunting organisation described this type of incident as “incredibly rare”while also stating they would be “reviewing their procedures to prevent any recurrence.” Campaigners are calling for a change in the law to make it illegal for hunting activities to be conducted in a residential area or in any other public place.
Which of the following statements is closest to your view?
- Conducting hunting activities in residential areas should be illegal
- Conducting hunting activities in residential areas should not be illegal
- Don’t know”
The survey was conducted via online interview. Invitations to complete the survey were sent out to members of the panel. Different response rates from different demographic groups were taken into account.
Pets & Livestock at risk...
The results demonstrate a clear majority in favour of legislation against hunting activities conducted in residential areas and it is unsurprising considering the numerous incidents involving hunts in recent times.
Our ‘Hunting Havoc’ report logged all of the incidents dating from the beginning of the 2020 hunting season to the 4th January 2021 where the hunting season was postponed.
This report revealed how there had been an incident involving hunts terrorising domestic animals or livestock on average every two weeks.
This is shocking not only considering the number of incidents in such a short space of time but considering it is highly likely that there are more incidents not reported.
It is also worth mentioning that the 2020/21 hunting season took place under unprecedented circumstances and that the number of hunting days would have been considerably lower than in 2019/20.