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Hunters chased or killed nearly 600 wild animals in the UK in the latest season, according to a report by an anti-hunt organisation – 20 years after the activity was outlawed.
There were 364 reports of foxhunting, involving 335 foxes being chased and another 29 being killed, while hunts chased deer 150 times, and killed 26 of the animals, the report says.
The Protect the Wild organisation, which compiled the report, believes the figures are an underestimate, but that they nevertheless illustrate widespread countryside lawlessness.
Hares were also hunted and badger setts tampered with.
The extent of illegal activity was highlighted as new footage appeared to show men in Devon digging into a sett, pulling out an injured fox and tossing it aside before also retrieving a bloodied terrier.
The gang tried to hide the dog from hunt saboteurs who called police to report a crime, pointing out the men’s clothes were now stained with blood.
Devon County and Mendip Saboteurs, who shot the video, said it showed the terrier men digging illegally into a protected badger sett and trying to hide the extent of the terrier’s injuries by quickly stuffing it into a metal box.
Devon and Cornwall Police said they later interviewed two men but then dropped the case.
The Hunting Act 2004 banned hunting foxes or deer with dogs in England and Wales, as well as mink hunting and hare coursing. But using one or two dogs for stalking and flushing is exempted from the ban, so prosecuting offenders can be difficult.
Labour has promised to “fully” ban hunting by outlawing “trail-hunting”.
Nonprofit organisation Protect the Wild released the figures on the latest season, from 1 July 2023 to 30 April, in its second annual report on the state of hunting in England and Wales. The information is based on 2,312 reports published by hunt saboteur and monitor groups, newspapers and members of the public.
Its report says hunt violence, such as documented physical assaults on anti-hunt activists, remains a concern.
Traffic offences and road havoc are widespread in hunting, it adds, particularly with quad bikes following hunts regularly seen with more passengers than they are legally allowed, as well as missing number plates.
“A significant portion of hunts remained unobserved, potentially leading to higher fox-chasing and killing incidents than reported,” it says.
On Saturday, the British Hound Sports Association is due to stage “National Trail Hunting Day” – dubbed by opponents “Smokescreen Saturday” – when in 30 places across the UK, journalists, police and politicians will be shown hunters laying trails. Hunts say they do this instead of chasing foxes.
Wildlife television presenter Chris Packham said: “Trail-hunting is nothing but a lawless, cruel ‘free for all’ for an arrogant rural mob.
“We have the report; what we need next is a reaction from Labour. The overwhelming evidence of the cruelty and criminality involved in foxhunting necessitates urgent legislative action.”
The report identifies the five hunts in the UK that chased and killed the most foxes and the six that were involved in the highest toll of violent attacks.
In all, 255 cases of hunt violence were recorded during an estimated nearly 20,000 hunting days, and hunts interfered with badger setts – which is illegal – 124 times, the study adds.
Nearly 45 per cent of hunt meets involved anti-wildlife, anti-social or criminal action, including aggression, racist and transphobic slurs and pushing and shoving, according to the report’s authors.
The Independent has previously revealed that police chiefs are accused of routinely turning a blind eye to illegal foxhunting across the UK.
But the Gloucestershire force is praised in the report for its “decisive” actions.
Policing last year’s Kent Hounds’ Boxing Day parade is said to have cost £14,322.
The British Hound Sports Association and the Countryside Alliance were approached for comment but no response was received by the time of publication.
