Charity campaigners in Exeter call for an end to fox hunting on National Trust land

Campaigners from the League Against Cruel Sports took to the streets of Exeter on Wednesday to call on the National Trust to stop licensing ‘trail’ hunting on its land.

Volunteers and staff from the leading national animal welfare charity, including one in a fox costume, gathered on the High Street to urge the public to take action and sign up to its National Trust campaign.

Nick Weston, head of campaigns at the League Against Cruel Sports said: “We spoke to a lot of families and individuals from around Devon today, including many National Trust members, and we got a lovely welcome with the League fox bringing a smile to many people’s faces.

“However, many people were shocked that fox hunting still goes on in the countryside and that the National Trust allows this cruel blood sport to take place on its land.”

The day of action in Exeter is one of a series of League actions taking place across the country this summer ahead of the National Trust’s AGM in October, when there will be a vote in which members will get the chance to call for a permanent ban on the licensing of trail hunting.

Nick added: “It is evident that tragically fox hunting is still taking place across England and Wales despite the ban, so we are calling on the National Trust to stop licensing ‘trail’ hunts on its land once and for all.”

Fox hunts have come under the spotlight recently after senior figures within the hunting lobby were caught seeming to admit that ‘trail’ hunting, one of the excuses they use, is a ‘smokescreen’ for the chasing and killing of animals.

The National Trust to its credit paused the licensing of trail hunting after this, but it is now time to have the ban made permanent.

A fox hunting ban outlawed fox hunting in England and Wales in 2005 but in the 2019/20 season, the League Against Cruel Sports compiled figures revealing 485 separate eye-witness accounts of suspected illegal hunting.

Through much of 2020, hunting activities were disrupted by Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. However the League still gathered figures showing 300 suspected cases of suspected illegal hunting during the cub hunting season in the autumn, although this is not something that is licensed by the National Trust.

Nick Weston added: “The overwhelming majority of the public oppose fox hunting and it’s time to consign this barbaric activity to the history books for good.”