The Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) has announced that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has granted no trail hunting licences for the 2024/25 season. This will be crushing news to a hunting industry that is on its last legs.
For those of us who have campaigned for years – members of the public, hunt saboteurs and monitors, and, of course, Protect the Wild – we should celebrate this significant victory.
A Freedom of Information request, published by the HSA, revealed that there have been eleven requests for trail hunting licences for the 2024/25 hunting season, but zero have been granted.
No longer protected by the Tories
We spoke to Salisbury Plain Monitors, a group which has spent countless hours monitoring the Royal Artillery Hunt on MOD land at Salisbury Plain. The group said:
“We are delighted with the news that the Royal Artillery Hunt no longer has a ‘license to kill’ on Salisbury Plain. This decision is long overdue, having been protected by [ex-Tory Defence Secretary] Ben Wallace, who has now joined the British Hound Sports Association Board and has openly said he supports blood sports – clearly biased in his role as Secretary of State for Defence.”
Indeed, in his role as Defence Secretary between 2019 and 2023, Wallace had overall responsibility for the MOD, overseeing the department as its operating wing – the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) – issued trail hunting licences to hunt on Defence land. During his time in the role, he went out of his way to protect the Royal Artillery Hunt.
In 2024, Wallace was replaced briefly Tory Grant Shapps, who was then replaced by Labour’s John Healey in 2024. Protect the Wild welcomed the news that Healey had taken the role: after all, he consistently voted against fox hunting in the lead-up to the passing of the Hunting Act in 2004. We were hopeful that there would finally be a Defence Secretary who would take action against the Royal Artillery Hunt’s criminal fox hunting. We were correct when we wrote:
“Unlike his Tory predecessors, it seems that Healey won’t easily be swayed by the hunting industry lobby.”
A history of illegal hunting
Salisbury Plain Monitors stated:
“The evidence shows that the Royal Artillery Hunt has been ‘protected’ for far too long. 20 years after the Hunting Act was passed, the hunt has refused to demonstrate legitimate trail hunting. There was no transparency of sharing their supposed route; they continued to train hounds to kill foxes; and they would not share what liquid they were allegedly using (and they had no UK licence for fox urine).
The CPS and MOD Police started legal proceedings in 2022 against the hunt for illegal hunting based on the strength of evidence. Justice was prevented due to ‘admin error of court papers filed days too late'”.
That time, monitors’ footage showed huntsman Charles Carter encouraging his hounds to chase a fox. The charges were dropped because the MOD Police missed its file submission date to Swindon Magistrates Court by just one day, apparently owing to a bank holiday weekend.
Salisbury Plain Monitors continued:
“The hunt slaughtered a vixen on Christmas Eve 2021 when they thought they were alone. Justice was prevented as the DIO accepted an ‘accidental mammal kill form’ excuse that Carter was ‘relieving himself’ and lost control of his dogs as a fox passed by: this nonsense was sent after he knew we had evidence. We were too far away to save her, and body parts were still warm when arrived.”
Hunt violence
On top of the many instances of illegal hunting, the Royal Artillery – and in particular Carter – have become renowned for using violence against monitors. In early September, Wiltshire Police issued Carter with a Community Resolution Order (CRO). The CRO was his second in 18 months, and was given to him after he assaulted a female hunt saboteur.
Carter was issued with his first CRO for ripping the bumper off a monitor’s car in November 2022. Immediately following this incident, he was also filmed running down two saboteurs with his car in December 2022. A video shows Carter deliberately turning his vehicle around to drive into the sabs. One person can be seen laying on the ground as Carter drives away. The police took no action against him for this incident.
Salisbury Plain Monitors stated that in total:
“the police have issued FOUR Community Resolution Orders and TWO police cautions to hunt members for damages to a monitor’s car, threatening behaviour, and assault.”
Protect the Wild has previously written about others who have been warned by the police here.
No respect
On top of all this, a past Freedom of Information request revealed that MOD staff were very unhappy with the Royal Artillery Hunt’s arrogance and audacity as it hunted on Defence land. Salisbury Plain Monitors explained:
“Internal MOD emails, shared in the FOI response, revealed that frontline staff stated that “any other unit would be banned for this behaviour”, referring to the repeated threatening behaviour of the hunt. The mails said of hunt staff:
‘they obviously have no respect, we don’t like their threatening tone used’.
‘the attitude of the RA masters/staff when trying to arrange meets is becoming rather threatening in tone which is unacceptable’
‘any other unit would be banned for this behaviour’.”
And now, finally, we can celebrate that the hunt IS finally banned from trail hunting – which we all know is a guise to illegally tear up wildlife.
A warning to the hunting industry
Salisbury Plain Monitors stated that the Countryside Alliance and the British Hound Sports Association are likely going to take action to try to reverse the MOD’s decision. The monitors said:
“The evidence of illegal hunting was watertight, hence the CPS decision to take legal proceedings in 2022, but an admin error got Carter off the hook. Let’s hope they do not have the same ‘luck’ when they try to appeal this decision, as they will try.”
This latest news is a massive win for everyone who has campaigned over the years to end hunting on MOD land. It could also be a sign that Labour will keep its manifesto promise – to strengthen the Hunting Act and get rid of the trail hunting loophole.
Protect the Wild urges the government to go a step further – to scrap the Hunting Act completely and replace it with a much more robust new law. The Hunting of Mammals Bill – commissioned by us and written by lawyers and Advocates for Animals – would stop hunting in its tracks if it was introduced into law. You can read the proposed Bill here and sign the petition calling for a PROPER ban on hunting here.
