League Against Cruel Sports wants Government to ban trail hunting

A pile of 648 bloodied fake foxes was dumped in central Birmingham yesterday as a national animal welfare charity called on the government to ban trail hunting.

The League Against Cruel Sports staged the stunt in Victoria Square on Tuesday, with a “hunter” dumping one fake fox for each report the charity has received of a fox being chased by hunts since the last general election in summer 2024.

The protest comes just days after the League handed an open letter signed by more than 36,000 people to Sir Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street, urging the government to act.

‘End this savage blood sport once and for all’

Emma Slawinski, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “The government isn’t keeping its promises, and the dumped foxes in Birmingham are there to show the scale of illegality that the government is failing to get to grips with. 

“We are urging the government to act immediately to end this savage blood sport once and for all.”

The government pledged to ban trail hunting in its election manifesto and promised to launch a public consultation in the new year following its animal welfare strategy announcement before Christmas. This consultation has yet to happen.

‘Surveys say West Midlanders support tougher fox hunting laws’

Slawinski called on ministers to go further, saying the consultation should also address exemptions in the Hunting Act that hunts exploit to circumvent the current law, as well as introducing custodial sentences and outlawing accidental hunting.

Polling conducted by FindOutNow found 72 per cent of West Midlands residents supported stronger fox hunting laws, with 70 per cent of rural voters nationwide backing new measures to prevent foxes being chased and killed by hounds.