At the end of 2024, a Church of England Reverend was witnessed blessing hunting hounds in Devon. Some weeks before this, another clergyman was photographed welcoming hounds to his church in Dorset. Protect the Wild asks, why doesn’t the Church practise the compassion that it preaches?
On 28 December, South Devon Hunt Saboteurs reported that a local Reverend, Mark Rylands, was spotted standing with the South Devon Hunt as staff gave their speech. The sabs said:
“While listening to them giving their speech at the meet, we were surprised to see that there was a Reverend Mark (from a local church) there giving the hounds a blessing, asking God to look after them and make their day fruitful. Needless to say that made us more determined to make sure they had a terrible day. How can a Reverend bless the activity of an illegal hunt!?”
A supporter of trail hunting
The Reverend in question belongs to the Diocese of Exeter. Protect the Wild contacted him to ask why he supports the hunt. We received a comment back from both Rylands and the Diocese. They said:
“The Rt. Rev’d Mark Rylands is Team Rector of the Ashburton and Moorland Mission Community, which includes a number of rural parishes on Dartmoor. As the local priest, he is keen to support members of the rural community and local organisations. He was invited to pray for the members of the South Devon Hunt on 28 December and said he was glad to be able to do so. Personally, he supports trail hunting, which is a legal activity. He also recognises that there will be a range of views amongst the local community and his parishioners about trail hunting. He wishes to make it clear that he absolutely does not condone or support any illegal forms of hunting and strongly supports good animal welfare.”
It will be widely known to any Protect the Wild readers that trail hunting is a loophole to cover up real hunting. This loophole has been so widely exploited that Scotland changed its hunting legislation completely, ensuring that trail hunting was outlawed. Labour, too, made statements prior to being elected, saying that it would ban trail hunting if it gained power.
Protect the Wild strongly urges Reverend Rylands and all Church of England clergy to educate themselves on the hunting industry, especially if their parishes are situated in hunting territory. At best, Rylands is ignorant about the immense scale of illegal fox hunting that takes place in the UK. And at worst, he is parroting the usual pro-hunting ‘legality’ lie used by hunting lobbyists as they attempt to gaslight the public.
‘Dominion’ not ‘domination’ over animals
Protect the Wild asked Reverend Rylands whether praying for hounds’ “fruitful day” is in line with his work as a Church of England priest. After all, the Church teaches that humans are stewards of God’s creations, and because of this, we are all called upon to care for and protect all living creatures. Rylands and the Diocese replied:
“To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth is one of the five marks of mission for the Church of England and of great importance to the Diocese of Exeter, which has a dedicated Creation Care Engagement officer committed to working with churches to improve biodiversity and create wildlife-friendly habitats. The diocese neither supports nor opposes legal forms of hunting but would strongly oppose, and seek to end, any activity which was proven to result in cruelty to animals and poor animal welfare.”
Indeed, two of the Five Marks of Mission are pertinent when challenging whether clergy of the Church should be supporting a hunt. The first has been outlined in the comment above; while the second reads:
“To transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation.”
Meanwhile, the Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals outlines that the killing of animals for pleasure raises “ethical questions”. It goes on to say:
“We believe that God has given us a responsibility towards sentient beings with whom we share God’s world. The Bible teaches us that God has given us ‘dominion’ not ‘domination’ over animals (Genesis 1:26). This means ‘loving care’ not ‘ruthless exploitation’.”
South Devon Hunt’s terrorising of animals
Reverend Rylands justifies his support of the South Devon Hunt by stating that it is going about legal trail hunting. But there are numerous incidents of the hunt pursuing wildlife, as well as causing havoc on roads, endangering the public. On top of this, the hunt trespasses on private land without getting land owners’ permission.
Some notable South Devon Hunt incidents that the Diocese of Exeter would do well to take note of include:
7 October 2024: Hounds caused havoc in the village of Lustleigh, running across roads and in and out of gardens, causing the hunt to issue an apology. One hound was reportedly badly injured when she was impaled that day.
3 August 2024: The pack trespassed onto land they had already been warned off of. South Devon Sabs wrote:
“[The huntsman] put his hounds in again into a Christmas tree farm, which we know his hounds are not allowed in after speaking to the owner of the tree farm on previous occasions, who himself has had arguments with the hunt master! While in there the hounds got into cry and we jumped into action right away and stopped them from getting their kill! The rest of the morning the hunt kept moving away from us but we always had eyes on them. We can report that three foxes were saved by us doing our job stopping these evil scum from hunting.”
11 November 2023: A deer was chased by hounds. The sabs reported:
“We saw a few foxes and a deer that was chased out of scrubland but thankfully nothing was caught by the hunt. We continue to blow the horn successfully and use voice calls to turn hounds back to the hunt, when they are onto a fox scent. The South Devon continue to have terriermen, equipped with terriers and spades for digging out, which you can see on one of the attached videos. Why are they out when hunts are supposedly doing ‘trail’ hunting?”
23 September 2023: Fox chases were witnessed by South Devon Sabs, who said:
“One fox was marked to ground between a pile of rocks on a steep slope. Fortunately, runners were able to move hounds on before any hunt members arrived and that fox was therefore left alone. Another fox was seen running along a valley with hounds not far behind. Sabs masked the scent, intercepted the hounds and then called them back in the opposite direction.”
(Sabs also uploaded a video of the chase here).
2 September 2023: The hunt was filmed trespassing on Forestry England land. Forestry England is one of a number of land owners to have stopped issuing licences for hunting, having recognised that trail hunting is a loophole.
1 April 2023: Foxes, including pregnant vixens, were chased at the hunt’s closing meet. Various sab groups paid the hunt a visit that day, witnessing the hounds rioting on sheep during lambing season. Plymouth and West Devon Hunt Saboteurs wrote:
“Throughout the day a number of foxes were seen to safety by sabs as hounds were hunted on. Hounds also rioted on red deer. Whilst 25 plus riders, with a pack of 30 dogs rampaged across moorland where pregnant sheep and lambs are grazing and ground nesting birds are gathering. None of these hounds were on leads, as Dartmoor National Park requires of dog owners between 1 March-31 July.”
Church of England needs to take a stance
Protect the Wild argues that such Church of England clergy members need to urgently evaluate whether they are acting in line with the moral values of their institution. We also believe that the Church needs to take a public stance against trail hunting. It is one of the few major land owners that hasn’t spoken out against the ‘sport’. According to Who Owns England?,
“the secretive and powerful Church Commissioners [is] the Church of England’s main property arm. The Church Commissioners – who own a 105,000-acre land and property portfolio worth some £2billion – are notoriously tight-lipped about their landholdings.”
It’s high time that the Church of England follows in the footsteps of land owners such as the National Trust, and bans hunting with dogs once and for all.
