Take Action
Labour pledged that if elected they would strengthen the Hunting Act, closing the loopholes and banning so-called ‘trail hunting.’ They are now the party of Government but this is far from a done deal, and it’s up to us all to hold them to their promise of ending this cruel pastime.
Please use our template text below to tell our politicians why there is an urgent need for change and a Hunting Act that is fit for purpose.
By taking action together, we can end hunting for good.
Write to your MP
- Copy and paste the template text below in an email to your new MP
- Make the email your own, adding in any local incidents, news stories and personal experience to help support your arguments
- You could also use the key points for social media posts, tagging your MP.
Our suggested text
Subject: End hunt cruelty for good
Dear Insert name,
Congratulations on your election as MP for [insert constituency]. I appreciate that you will have a lot to do, but want to raise an issue which is of high importance to me and many others in the area: illegal hunting and associated crime.
The Hunting Act 2004 is a very popular piece of legislation, enjoying the support of more than 80% of the public. But it isn’t working as intended. Police chiefs know it, the hunters know it, and the rural communities plagued by illegal hunting know it.
Nearly 20 years after it was supposedly banned, up and down the country hunts are exploiting loopholes in the law and continue to chase and kill foxes, hare, deer and other wild animals for fun.
In a Channel 4 News exclusive earlier this year, National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead on Hunting Crime, Chief Superintendent Matt Longman said, “What we’ve got is a law that has a high level of ambiguity within it, and it is without doubt, at times being used by some as a smokescreen to allow them to continue hunting as they said they would 20 years ago.”
The new government has promised to strengthen this ban. If the law is to be fit for purpose and finally protect British wildlife from the cruelty of hunting with hounds as originally intended, it is essential to:
- ban so-called ‘trail hunting’ (that is used by hunts as a smokescreen to hunt as they did before the current ban)
- immediately end the cruel practise of ‘terrier work’
- close all loopholes and exemptions in the current law that mean animals continue to be killed, and add a ‘recklessness clause’ to the Act
- increase enforcement and sentencing powers so the law acts as a deterrent
I am urging you to use your position in office to hold the government to this, and to push for the full legislative changes listed above to stop the cruelty and criminality associated with hunting.
Yours sincerely,
[Insert name and address]
Click above to copy the text
Write to the Environment Secretary
- Copy and paste the template email below and send to the new Environment Secretary, Steve Reed: Steve.reed.mp@parliament.uk
- Make the emails your own, adding in any local incidents, news stories and personal experience to help support your arguments.
- You could also use the key points of the email for social media posts, and tag @SteveReedMP
Our suggested text
Subject: End hunt cruelty for good
Dear Steve Reed,
Congratulations on your re-election to office and on your appointment to the position of Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. I understand that you will have a lot to do, but want to raise an issue which is of high importance to me and many others in the country: illegal hunting and associated crime.
I welcomed Labour’s pre-election promise to ban the smokescreen of ‘trail hunting’ that allows fox and hare hunting to continue if elected to Government.
But a ban on ‘trail hunting’ alone will not be enough. If the Hunting Act is to be made fit for purpose and British wildlife protected from the cruelty of hunting with hounds as was originally intended, this must be coupled with:
- the removal of all loopholes and exemptions within the Hunting Act that mean animals are still killed
- the addition of a recklessness clause so huntsmen are responsible for their hounds at all times (and cannot claim ‘accidents’ when wild animals are chased and killed)
- proper enforcement and increased sentencing powers (including fines, imprisonment and animal banning orders) to act as a deterrent and prevent repeat offending
Further to this, the cruel practise of ‘terrier work,’ where terriers are forced into underground refuges to locate a fox often resulting in a fight and devastating injuries to both animals, can and must be stopped immediately. You have the ability to do this by removing the ‘Code of Practise’ written into the Act.
I implore you to act quickly on making these changes, to avoid the prolonging of the cruelty and criminality brought about by hunting with hounds.
Yours sincerely,
[Insert name and address]
Click above to copy the text
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