20 years of the Hunting Act: trail hunt ban looms large amid claims it's a 'smokescreen'

It is 20 years since The Hunting Act (2004) gained royal assent, but there are claims that illegal hunting still routinely takes place in the English countryside, with 127 incidents reported to The League Against Cruel Sports in just the autumn of this year.

The Hunting Act made it illegal for packs of dogs to hunt wild mammals including foxes, passing through Parliament in November 2004 and then coming into force in early 2005.

Hunting parties have since developed a method known as 'trail hunting', which involves laying an animal scent along a route for hounds to follow. This is meant to avoid disturbing wildlife and enable hunts to still enjoy the thrill of chasing a scent. But wildlife campaign groups like The League Against Cruel Sports have described the method as a 'smokescreen' and claim that animals are still routinely chased and killed.

Emma Judd, their Head of Campaigns said:

"We received nearly 1,400 reports during the last the fox hunting season of hunts engaged in suspected illegal hunting or causing havoc in rural communities.

There are plenty of hunts that go out without people seeing what they're doing. So really these reports are just the tip of the iceberg.

What we are calling for is for The Hunting Act to be strengthened, to remove loopholes which make it easy for hunts to evade prosecution. The Labour government has committed in its manifesto to ban trail hunting, but we also want custodial sentences for those who are convicted, at the moment is just a fine."

ITV News has obtained exclusive footage of hounds chasing a fox around a housing estate in Warwickshire at the start of this year's winter hunting season.

Nick Smith went on patrol with the West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs.

Labour pledged to ban trail hunting in its election manifesto, but has since offered little detail in how such a ban would be worded or implemented.

A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) spokesperson has since confirmed to ITV News that it would seek to ban trail hunting "that allows for the illegal hunting of foxes, deer, and hares."

The Scottish Government introduced a ban of trail hunting last year.

The British Hound Sports Association, the governing body for hunting groups, says for packs of dogs registered with them, there have been only 25 successful convictions for illegal hunting since the Hunting Act came into effect in February 2005.

Their spokespeople argue that any proposed ban on trial hunting would be implemented for "ideological reasons", penalising many hunts which obey the letter of the law, to catch what they claim is a 'minority' who engage in illegal hunting.

"Whatever you do, wherever you go, you will find the accidents happen. People go in their cars and they break the speed limit. You don't ban an activity because some people break the rules.

We held an open day for trail hunting back in September to educate people on how hunts go about it. I encouraged members of the government to come and attend, but none of them did."

Last year the BHSA expelled the Wiltshire-based Avon Vale Hunt after members were convicted over footage which emerged of foxes being pulled from their den and thrown to the hounds.

The Countryside Alliance, which has long campaigned against The Hunting Act, says the hunting community will be resilient in the face of any upcoming changes to the law.

Polly Portwin is head of their Campaign for Hunting:

"There is a perception that hunts are going out and breaking the law and it's our job to try and demonstrate that that's not the case.

The hunting community will make sure that there is a future for these hounds. We've got future generations that we need to ensure that they can continue to follow packs of hounds across the countryside.

Efforts to disband hunting groups will see a hit to the rural economy. Many hunts employ staff and there is a whole network around the activity. The countryside can sometimes be an isolating place so it provides a social activity for both young and old."

National policing guidelines suggest not actively monitoring hunts due to the resources it would need to cover such a vast area, so most forces rely heavily on video or witness statements from the public .

One of the lead police officers responsible for overseeing fox hunting crime on the National Police Chiefs Council, Superintendent Matt Longman (of Devon and Cornwall Police) told a recent policing event that current laws were 'unworkable' and "hunts are frequently trailed in fox habitats, with hounds trained to locate and kill them, and there are many loopholes which can see people evade prosecution."