Farmer's fears over planned trail hunting ban

As hunts are preparing for their traditional Boxing Day meets, a hunt master says plans to ban trail hunting will be "catastrophic" for the rural community.

Fox hunting was banned 20 years ago, but Labour has further pledged to ban trail hunting, where hounds follow a pre-laid scent in lieu of chasing a live animal.

Critics argue the sport is being used as a "smokescreen" for illegal hunting, claiming hounds invariably pursue the scent of live foxes, which ends in cruelty.

But Hugo Mann, farmer and joint master of the Salisbury-based Wilton Hunt, said it is a social lifeline for the farming community "in the darkest depths of winter".

Mr Mann, 36, estimates for a single day's hunting he speaks to 20 different farmers in order to plan a route across their land, and organises about 40 meets a year.

"A ban would be catastrophic for our rural community, we're the threads that run through the whole of our area," he said.

"It's a great point for rural people to meet each other in the darkest depths of winter, when they don't see many people.

"It's really just a real community we've created with hunting, like any sport, it just binds people together."

Mr Mann said it is rare for a huntsman to lose control of a pack, as the hounds are well disciplined and trained on recall.

"We are working with animals and occasionally things don't go as planned," he acknowledged. "But we do everything we can to try and make it go smoothly."

He added that the prospect of a ban feels like another "dagger" to the rural community.

"[The government] is already tearing us apart with this inheritance tax," he said.

"Farming is lonely enough as it is, and without this, I would just carry on at the farm. I wouldn't see anyone."

But Emma Judd, a representative of the League Against Cruel Sports, believes "hunts very rarely lay an actual trail".

"If it is laid, it is laid near where wildlife and other animals such as livestock are being kept," she said. "So animals do get killed from trail hunting."

She said research by the organisation also revealed a majority of people supported a strengthened Hunting Act, amid the belief it is being used as a cover-up.

"That's across the board - whether they live in the rural areas or urban areas, and it's very similar across political splits," she said.

The league believes the West of England has one of the highest rates of illegal fox hunting in the country based on footage gathered by hunt saboteurs.

"Fox hunts wreaking havoc on rural communities," Ms Judd said.

"These incidents included trespass in people's gardens, attacks on family pets and hounds running riot on roads."

Despite claims of widespread illegality, there have only been about 30 successful prosecutions of organised hunts under the Hunting Act, according to the British Hound Sport Association.

New technology has also led to tighter scrutiny, as hunting saboteur groups can now monitor the hunts from drones overhead to ensure rules are being followed.

The government has not given a time frame for the ban to come into effect, but said it is "committed" to banning the sport and will "set out next steps in due course".

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