UK hunting ban exposed as a farce

Some hunts took birds of prey with them at the start of the new season to legally dispatch foxes flushed out by hounds. Picture / Reuters

The hunting ban in England and Wales was exposed as a farce again yesterday as scores of foxes died on the first day of the hunting season, with claims from protesters that some animals had been hunted down and killed illegally.

The pro-hunting Countryside Alliance said up to 100 foxes died as hundreds of thousands of hunters and spectators took part in more than 300 hunts on the opening of the first season since the practice was legally banned.

Anti-hunt protesters, many armed with cameras, monitored the day's events, watched by up to 3000 police officers.

Hunt leaders were determined to test the legislation to the limit and more than 50 hunts used birds of prey to hunt down foxes.

Thirty-six riders and 31 hounds rode out with the historic Cheshire Forest Hunt and there, in an attempt to bypass the hunting ban, an eight-month-old Harris hawk, called Alice, was present.

Peter Heaton, joint master of the Cheshire, said: "Part of the exemptions is that you can use an unlimited number of hounds to flush for an unspecified mammal, and the process could include using a bird of prey. The hounds are not hunting, but they are flushing for the hawk to hunt. It is one of the ways we are testing the legislation."

Dr Jane Evans, who was monitoring the Cheshire hunt, complained she was intimidated and insulted for much of the day. The hunt, she said, rode out with a full pack of hounds.

Hunt opponents were infuriated, with the League Against Cruel Sports claiming to have evidence of breaches of the ban. Mike Hobday, a spokesman for the organisation, said it had received reports of illegal hunting. One hunt in Surrey, he said, had been videoed chasing down a fox and the evidence would be passed to police.

"The tape shows the fox clearly being chased by hounds, and the riders going along, making no effort to stop them. It is a very clear chase of a fox," he said.

In Gloucestershire, at first glance, the first weekend of hunting by the "distinguished" Beaufort on the Badminton estate looked no different to any other year.

But, despite expressions of determination to soldier on from hunt leaders, hunting has changed. The scent did not lead to a fox. Instead, an "organic-based smell" had been laid along prearranged tracks. There was no quarry for the hounds.

At least, that was the plan. "Accidents happen," admitted Nigel Maidment, secretary of the hunt. "A fox can jump up - this is where they live, after all." Hunt officials claimed no fox was killed, although one young woman on horseback suggested otherwise. Asked by a hunt supporter how it was going, she smiled and slashed her finger across her neck, indicating a death - of what, she did not say.

The loopholes

* The hunting and killing of foxes with hounds became illegal in England and Wales in February.

* However, hounds can still be used to "flush" foxes as long as they do not kill the animal.

* Hunting with birds of prey was not outlawed, nor shooting foxes.

- INDEPENDENT