'Killing animals for fun is not the mark of a modern day civilised society'

26 December 2023 , 00:01

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Today is the biggest date in the hunting calendar, with an estimated 200 Boxing Day meets expected across the UK (Image: PA)

Today is the biggest date in the hunting calendar, with an estimated 200 Boxing Day meets expected across the UK.

Crowds will gather in town centres and on village greens to watch the horses, riders and hounds before they head out to the countryside. According to the League Against Cruel Sports there were hundreds of cases of suspected illegal hunting and hunt havoc around Christmas last year.

This includes the pursuit and killing of foxes, trespassing onto private land and disturbing livestock and pets. This illegal activity continues despite the fact that fox hunting has been banned in the UK for nearly 20 years.

Under the Hunting Act 2004, hounds are still allowed to follow an animal-based scent trail called trail hunting. As chair of the League, I am urging the next Government to ban trail hunting because evidence shows it has created a smokescreen for illegal activity.

And I am not alone in this view. Earlier this year the lead police officer in England and Wales responsible for hunting, Chief Superintendent Matt Longman, said that perpetrators avoid being caught by using trail hunting to carry on hunting foxes and other animals.

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This isn’t about destroying traditional ways of life. As a former MP and Rural Affairs Minister in the last Labour Government, I understand why people want to watch the spectacle of riders on horseback taking part in centuries’ old Boxing Day parades through villages and towns.

Neither do I have any problem with people riding a predetermined route away from foxes, livestock, crops and private land following a non-animal scent without the pursuit or killing of wild animals. But those bloodthirsty individuals who break the law by illegally hunting foxes, hares and deer in the local countryside need to be stopped.

My greatest regret is that legislation I voted for back in 2004 has not ended this senseless cruelty. So this Boxing Day I am demanding that the loophole in the law be closed and hunting is consigned to the dustbin of history forever.

Do not be fooled into believing that this is a culture or a class war - people can wear what they want, blow horns and ride responsibly around the countryside. But killing animals for fun - no; that is not the mark of a modern day civilised society.

West of England Metro Mayor