Fox hunting still rife in Wales, new study shows
Martin Shipton
A new set of figures shows that fox hunting is still rife in Wales – despite being banned since 2005.
The figures – compiled by national animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports – show that hunts in Wales were seen chasing 14 foxes during the most recent fox hunting season which finished at the end of March, and the cub hunting season which preceded it.
Hunts in Wales were also found to be some of the worst in the country for wreaking havoc on rural communities and anti-social behaviour, with 64 incidents during the same period.
The figures are released as the UK Government holds a 12-week consultation to ban trail hunting, the discredited excuse used by hunts as a smokescreen to conceal the chasing and killing of foxes.
Emma Slawinski, League Against Cruel Sports chief executive, said: “These startling figures show that the brutal blood sport of fox hunting is still rife in Wales, despite the ban, and points to the desperate need for new, stronger fox hunting laws.
“The Welsh public have the chance to have their say and to help end fox hunting once and for all by taking part in the government’s consultation to end trail hunting.”
The hunt havoc by hunts across Wales included reports of trespass; other wildlife such as deer being chased; livestock worrying; and hounds running amok on roads – all activities inconsistent with the idea of following a trail, which is what hunts claim to be doing.
Across both England and Wales, the charity recorded 488 reports of foxes seen being pursued, along with 1,220 reports of hunt havoc.
The League believes the figures are just the tip of the iceberg, showing only those hunts being monitored, with hunt behaviour in many remote rural areas and incidents of animals being chased and torn apart going unreported.
Just 23 or 3.7% of the 624 hunt meets monitored contained evidence of a trail being laid. Within those 23 reports with a trail laid, there was still evidence of 22 foxes being chased.
Stronger fox hunting laws
Polling commissioned by the League Against Cruel Sports and carried out independently by FindOutNow with further analysis by Electoral Calculus in March/April 2024 found that 78 per cent of the public in Wales supported stronger fox hunting laws, with only four per cent disagreeing.
A clear majority of voters in rural as well as urban areas across Wales and England backed new laws to stop foxes being chased by hounds and killed, with 70% of people in the countryside supporting the proposal.
Ms Slawinski said: “The time for change is now. Trail hunting needs to be banned, the loopholes in the law removed, custodial sentences made available to judges to deter would-be hunters, and measures introduced to tackle reckless or ‘accidental’ hunting.
“Let’s turn Wales from a country rife with brutal fox hunting into a blood sports-free zone.”
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