Trail hunting a ‘smokescreen’ for illegal fox hunts, MP says in jail terms plea
Labour MP Perran Moon called for a ban on trail hunting, which he warned was being used as a ‘smokescreen’ for illegal fox hunting.
Trail hunting is being used as a “smokescreen” for illegal fox hunting, a Labour MP has warned as he called for jail terms if organisers flout the rules.
Perran Moon called for a ban on the practice, which MPs heard is when hunt organisers lay a trail using animal-based scents, sometimes derived from urine or a carcass, for hounds and their followers to track.
Environment minister Daniel Zeichner said the Government would launch a consultation on banning trail hunting later this year, in line with Labour’s 2024 manifesto.
“I strongly believe it is time for us to come together and close this loophole once and for all,” Mr Moon told the Commons.
He said: “Banning trail hunting would be a positive step in safeguarding the UK’s wildlife and habitats.
“We need to strengthen the Hunting Act 2004 to make sure it delivers the protection animals need, that means banning trail hunting, removing exemptions that enable illegal hunting, and introducing custodial sentences for those who break the law.”
The MP for Camborne and Redruth later added: “We must extend the time available for charge in illegal hunting cases, reverse the burden of proof of compliance with exemptions, and make hunting a notifiable offence (counted in crime statistics)”.
He said these measures would “make it easier to enforce the law and ensure that those who break it face the consequences”, in response to Labour MP for Poole Neil Duncan-Jordan, who warned that “effective reform must go beyond symbolic bans and address the entire framework enabling illegal hunting to carry on”.
Mr Duncan-Jordan said: “Whilst a pledge to ban trail hunting is welcome, I fear it could be insufficient.
“If legislation focuses solely on this term alone, hunts may adopt new euphemisms to exploit existing loopholes to continue their activities.”
Earlier in the debate, Mr Moon said “trail hunting has been used as a defence” when hunts and their organisers land in the criminal justice system, accused of hunting a wild mammal with a dog, as he described a “disturbing reality – trail hunting is providing a smokescreen for illegal fox hunting”.
Sir Julian Lewis, the Conservative MP for New Forest East, intervened in Mr Moon’s speech and asked: “Would it not then be possible for drag hunting to be used in some way as a cover once again for illegal fox hunting?”
Mr Moon replied that he has “no issue with drag hunting”, when hunt organisers lay trails using artificial scents.
He said “the likelihood that there will be wild animals included in drag hunting is much, much smaller”, because it does not use real animal urine or carcasses.
Mr Zeichner told MPs that a consultation is due later this year, but he could not say when a ban would come into effect.
“I want to assure members that we are working to move this forward, and we will deliver a thorough consultation later this year to ensure that legislation brought forward is effective in practice and we understand its impact,” he said at the despatch box.
The minister quoted figures from the League Against Cruel Sports, who found from November 2023 to March 2024, there were 526 reports of incidents of suspected illegal hunting, and 870 incidents of “hunt havoc”.
He added: “We have heard that there are people in this house who will not welcome a change in the law, and I want to reassure members here today the Government recognises the contribution made to the rural economy by supporting professions such as farriers, vets and feed merchants, we will of course look closely at the impact any changes may make.”
A British Hound Sports Association spokesperson said in response that “trail hunting is a legal, ethical and legitimate sport which does not involve the pursuit of any wild animal”.
They told the PA news agency: “Publicly available data shows that less than 1% of trail hunts have breached the regulations in the past 20 years.”
