Public pushes for ban on controversial trail hunting: 'The time for change is now'

Polling has shown that public sentiment is edging toward ending the practice of trail hunting in the United Kingdom.

The Independent reported on a survey by League Against Cruel Sports that revealed 62% of over 2,000 respondents want to end the practice, while only 24% want to preserve it. 

Trail hunting is intended to be a more humane alternative to fox hunting, which is already banned in the U.K. It involves creating false fox tracks for hounds to pursue, in effect imitating the old practices of fox hunting. 

Supporters of the ban argue that animals can still be killed during the activity, and they criticized the government's delays in officially forbidding it.

"The time for change is now, and we urge the government to act and to push ahead with the consultation to ban trail hunting, which they firstly promised to deliver last year and then early in the new year," said Emma Slawinski, the chief executive of League Against Cruel Sports.

The governing Labour Party is committed to banning it as part of its manifesto, but polling revealed broad support for a ban across political lines and geographic areas in England and Wales.

Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, pushed back on the proposed motion.  He argued that rural communities face greater challenges, and it was "absurd" to devote time to hunting rather than to those looming issues. Still, the public momentum for such a ban is hard to ignore.

Hunting groups in the United Kingdom are already voluntarily withdrawing from participating in trail hunting, such as Isle of Wight Hounds. Alternative methods — like drag hunting, which uses human-laid scents — can better protect local animals from inadvertent attacks. 

Conserving or reintroducing valued animals is becoming a greater priority for not just animal lovers, as some are crucial to the health of local ecosystems.

There's also the desire to strengthen existing bans on fox hunting. This measure could help tighten rules that allow hunters to justify actions when wildlife is put in danger. Slawinski hinted at the connection while blasting the "lame excuses" put forth by hunting proponents.

"We want to see the government launch its consultation to ban trail hunting and to also remove the exemptions in the Hunting Act, introduce jail sentences to act as a deterrent to lawbreakers, and to outlaw reckless and accidental hunting," she concluded to the Independent.

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