Trail Hunting Under Scrutiny: Ban on the Horizon?

Today we examine the recent parliamentary debate on trail hunting, an activity under increasing fire for its connection to illegal fox hunting despite the Hunting Act 2004. Perran Moon MP opened the discussion, highlighting animal cruelty concerns and the perceived loopholes in current legislation. The debate explores the differences between trail hunting (using animal-based scents) and drag hunting (using artificial scents), with concerns heavily focused on trail hunting.

Members discussed evidence suggesting trail hunting acts as a "smokescreen" for illegal activity, with examples of hunts being "caught red-handed". The RSPCA's reports of harm caused by out-of-control hounds were also raised. While some argued for the hunting community's voice to be heard, the prevailing sentiment favoured a ban, citing public opinion and the need to strengthen animal welfare laws. Major landowners have already restricted or banned trail hunting. The government acknowledged these concerns, outlining their commitment to animal welfare and a future consultation on banning trail hunting.

Key Takeaways:

• Trail hunting is under intense scrutiny due to concerns it facilitates illegal fox hunting.
• Unlike drag hunting, trail hunting uses animal-based scents.
• Evidence suggests trail hunting is used as a "defence" in illegal hunting prosecutions.
• There is cross-party support for reviewing and potentially banning trail hunting.
• The government has committed to a consultation on banning trail hunting.
• The Hunting Act 2004 is seen by some as having loopholes.
• Animal welfare and public opinion are key drivers for potential legislative change.

Source:  Trail Hunting
Volume 765: debated on Tuesday 1 April 2025

Chapters

• 1:10 Difference between drag hunting and trail hunting
• 2:25 Cover for illegal hunting?
• 5:15 Proposed solutions
• 6:33 Rights of the hunting community
• 7:37 Would a ban really solve the problem?
• 8:39 Government position - animal welfare measures
• 10:41 Conclusions

Transcript

Welcome to The Bench Report, UK politics straight from the benches. Today, we are gonna look into a very controversial debate, trail hunting in The UK. We have this House of Commons, a debate on trail hunting. And, what's really interesting is how divided people are on this issue. Yeah.

It's certainly a passionate topic for many people. And, securing an adjournment debate like this one that the Labour MP, Perin Moon, did, shows how important it is to bring it to the government's attention. And his main point, as you'll hear, is he wants to ban trail hunting because of animal welfare. So we really need to break down the arguments for and against and see what's really at stake here. Yeah.

Absolutely. I think a great place to start is, you know, understanding Moon's argument for a ban. And he's very clear from the outset that he believes animal cruelty has no place in a modern Britain. Mhmm. And, you know, having seen what he calls the brutal reality of hunting with dogs in rural areas, this isn't just some, you know, theoretical concern for him.

It's something that he's witnessed firsthand. And he also is careful to point out right from the beginning that the Hunting Act of 02/2004 already made fox hunting. So that's the actual chasing and killing of foxes with hounds illegal. Right. And what Moon does is he highlights the difference between drag hunting and trail hunting.

And he specifically mentions that he has no problem with drag hunting where the hounds follow an artificial scent. They often use antecede, which is laid out in a predetermined route. Right. But trail hunting, according to Mone, is where the problems begin. So the big difference is the scent.

Trail hunting uses animal based scents. So we're talking about things like fox urine and even sometimes parts of dead animals like foxes or deer or hares. And his argument is that this essentially creates what he calls a thinly veiled pretense for illegal hunting. Exactly. And he uses specific examples like incidents that happened in another labor impeach on Woodcock's constituency where some hunts were apparently caught red handed hunting live foxes.

These are not just, you know, vague accusations. He's talking about actual events that support the idea that the current law is not being followed or enforced properly. And he doesn't stop there. He goes on to directly challenge the idea that fox hunting is useful for controlling pests. He calls that complete nonsense.

He reminds us that the hunting act came about because the public was outraged about the cruelty involved in traditional hunting. But he says the act doesn't go far enough because it doesn't fully address this loophole around trail hunting. And he's not alone in this. He's basically voicing concerns that have been raised by organizations like the RSPCA and the League Against Cruel Sports for a very long time. They believe that trail hunting as it's practiced now is being used as a cover for illegal hunting.

And Moon actually brings in evidence from his own experience in Cornwall where he claims that some foxhound packs continue to hunt foxes illegally, but they use trail hunting as a defilance. And he talks about issues that landowners have reported, things like trespassing and hounds running out of control, you know, problems that go beyond the immediate welfare of the foxes. Right. And this really sort of paints a picture of potential danger and disruption in these rural areas. And what Moon really emphasizes is that these hunts often choose to lay these trails specifically in areas where they know foxes live.

And he argues that this obviously makes it much more likely that the hounds are gonna encounter and chase after live animals. And to back up his point even further, Moon brings up data from August 2023 to March 2024 and points out several incidents of suspected illegal hunting, even cub hunting, which is especially controversial, where the defense used was that it was trail hunting. So it suggests that this defense is being used to hide illegal activities. And it's interesting because it's not just animal welfare groups that are voicing concerns about this. He mentions that some really prominent landowners, organizations like the National Trust, Natural Resources Wales, Forestry England, United Utilities, and even the Lake District National Park have all taken steps to restrict or even completely ban trail hunting on their land.

And that really shows you that this is a widespread concern that crosses different sectors. I think this quote from assistant chief constable Matt Longman is really significant. He states that trail hunting has been used as a defense in cases where people were successfully prosecuted under the Hunting Act. And this really supports the argument that trail hunting is often used as a cover or smoke screen for illegal hunting, as Moon puts it. And this is not just speculation.

It's coming from someone directly involved in enforcing the law. Moon really makes a point of saying that this isn't just a one-sided issue. He mentions concerns raised by MPs from other parties like the conservatives, liberal democrats, and the greens, which suggests that there's a broad discomfort with the current situation across the political spectrum. He also points to public opinion polls showing that something like 80% of the British public supports the existing ban on hunting with dogs, and a significant number of people also wanna see trail hunting banned as well. That's right.

And it seems that there's a gap between what the public wants and what the law actually allows. Moon also brings in a moral argument. He says that trail hunting just doesn't fit with modern ideas about how we should treat animals, and he also touches on the damage that hunting can do to the environment, so it's not just about the animals being hunted with the wider ecosystem. So what is Moon's solution? He says we need to make the hunting act of 02/2004 stronger by doing a few things.

One is to ban trail hunting outright. Another is to get rid of the exemptions that he thinks are being misused to make illegal hunting easier. And he wants to see custodial sentences for people who are convicted of breaking the law. And he agrees with another Labour MP, Neil Duncan Jordan, who says that we need a complete overhaul of the system, not just a symbolic ban on the words trail hunting. Yeah.

This idea of a holistic approach is really important. Moon suggests a few specific changes. He wants to see a longer time limit for prosecuting illegal hunting cases. He thinks the burden of proof for exemptions under the act should be flipped, and he wants to make hunting offenses something you have to report to the police. These are all practical steps that he believes would make the law much more effective.

And, of course, he reminds us that the Labour Party has already promised in its manifesto to ban hunting animals with dogs altogether. He even quotes a Labour MP, Dan Norris, who's also the chair of the league against cruel sports. He says that trail hunting is just a way to get around the current legislation. And then Moon really puts the minister on the spot by asking when the government is gonna actually make time for a debate on banning trail hunting. So he's basically saying, let's get on with it.

This needs to happen. Now we need to look at the other side of the argument. And in this debate, Jim Shannon, who is the DUP MP for Strangford, offers a very different opinion. Although, he stresses that he respects Perun Moon. He makes it clear that this issue is devolved, which means that the rules around hunting are set by the separate governments in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Shannon emphasizes that the hunting community deserves a say in any changes to the law. And he says that they would disagree with a lot of the points that Moon's made. He calls himself a hunting man, although he says he's never hunted with horses or hounds. He believes that the hunting community has a right to continue trail hunting. He really wants to make sure that the other point of view is heard.

And Moon's response to that is pretty direct. He agrees that everyone has the right to be heard in a democracy, but he says that laws need to be based on facts and what science tells us. And he believes that the evidence is overwhelming that the harm done to the animal being hunted is just too great compared to any enjoyment that the hunters get. However, he does say that he's open to hearing everyone's views as part of the discussion before any changes to the law are made. We also hear from a conservative MP, sir Julian Lewis, who represents New Forest East.

He has a slightly different concern. He asks if banning trail hunting would really solve the problem, or if it would just lead to people using drag hunting as another way to hunt foxes illegally. He wonders if this is just gonna be a never ending game of cat and mouse, and he thinks Moon needs to be clear about whether he wants to stop all types of hunting altogether. Yeah. Sir Julian is asking a very important question.

And Moon responds by saying that he sees a fundamental difference between trail hunting and drag hunting because of the kind of scent that's used. He says drag hunting, where they use an artificial scent, doesn't have the same risk of hounds chasing wild animals either by accident or on purpose. He says that the RSPCA and the league against cruel sports agree with this, and they don't have the same concerns about drag hunting as they do about trail hunting. He really makes it clear that his main concern is stopping wild animals from being chased and killed by hounds, not stopping all activities with horses in the countryside. Now lastly, we have the response from the government.

Daniel Zeichner, who's the minister for food security and rural affairs, congratulates Perun Moon for getting this debate on the agenda. And he immediately says the government is strongly committed to animal welfare, and that includes doing something about trail hunting. Zeichner broadens the discussion to talk about a whole range of animal welfare initiatives that the government is working on. He mentions things like stopping puppy smuggling and puppy farms, banning snare traps, banning imports of hunting trophies, and supporting the animal welfare import of dogs, cats, and ferrets bill. And he also says that they're committed to tackling bad practices in dog breeding.

He specifically reaffirms the government's promise to ban snare traps in England, and he points out that whales in Scotland have already done this. He also repeats their promise to ban the import of hunting trophies, and he emphasizes that the government is continuing to fund the National Wildlife Crime Unit and the National Rural Crime Unit. Now getting back to trail hunting, the minister acknowledges that there are genuine concerns about the difficulty of making sure that wild mammals aren't at risk because of the way trails are laid, sometimes in areas where they live. And he specifically refers to the reports of suspected illegal hunting and hunts causing distress, which were brought up earlier by Moon, and these reports came from the league against cruel sports. And importantly, he confirms that the government is committed to to banning trail hunting.

So he makes that commitment, but he doesn't give a specific date for when this might happen. Instead, he says that they're gonna have a thorough consultation later this year to make sure that any new law is effective and that they understand what its impact might be. He also responds to Jim Shannon's point about the hunting community being important for the rural economy by saying that they will look closely at the impact of any changes and that they will talk to everyone who's affected. The minister finishes by saying that the government is going to take a broad view of animal welfare that includes all types of animals, farm animals, pets, and wild animals. And he says he looks forward to working with Pran Moon on these issues.

So we've really gone into detail about this debate on trail hunting. We've looked at the arguments for banning it, which are mostly about animal welfare and the idea that it's being used as a cover for illegal hunting. And we've also looked at the counter arguments, which focus on the rights of the hunting community and the possible challenges in making new laws. This whole discussion really shows how difficult it is to find a balance between protecting animals and respecting rural traditions and people's livelihoods. And it also highlights how hard it is to make sure that the current hunting act is being followed.

While the government has now said they will ban trail hunting, the details about how this will work and when it will happen are still unclear. We'll have to wait and see what comes out of that consultation. Yeah. And this leaves us with some really big questions to think about. How can we, as a society, protect animals and respect rural traditions at the same time?

What changes to the law would actually make a difference and stop illegal hunting? Mhmm. This is obviously a really important issue, and the debate isn't over yet. Absolutely. This upcoming consultation is going to be a crucial moment in shaping the future of hunting laws in The UK.

And the views that people express will definitely have an impact on what the final ban looks like. It really shows how complicated it is to turn people's values into laws that work in practice. Check out the episode notes and find us on social media at bench report UK. Take care.