The League Against Cruel Sports has slammed an upcoming National Trail Hunting Day as a cynical attempt to deceive the public, police and government that trail hunting is not a smokescreen for chasing and killing foxes despite the ban.
The event, organised by the Countryside Alliance and the British Hound Sports Association, is due this Saturday, 17 October, as part of a Newcomers to Trail Hunting Week. The League says it is designed to convince people that hunts are not still pursuing foxes.
Figures on illegal hunting
Figures compiled by the Hunt Saboteurs Association show that six fox hunts and three hare hunts under BHSA governing bodies have been convicted of illegal hunting since the beginning of last year. New League figures show 53 foxes were seen being chased during the most recent cub hunting season starting in August 2026, after 488 foxes were reported pursued in the last full fox and cub hunting season ending in March 2026.
The same League report found that the vast majority of hunts never bothered to lay a trail: just 23, or 3.7%, of 624 hunt meets reported across England and Wales last season contained evidence of a trail being laid, and even within those 23 there was still evidence of 22 foxes being chased.
Emma Slawinski: 'A cynical attempt'
Emma Slawinski, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, said: "National Trail Hunting Day is a cynical attempt to hide from the public, criminal justice system and government that fox hunting is still taking place despite the ban."
She added: "We get reports of hundreds of foxes being chased every season and this is just the tip of the iceberg as this is just from the hunts being monitored. What happens on these trail hunting days is in stark contrast to the brutality being shown by fox hunts up and down the UK which are routinely chasing and killing foxes as they did before the ban."
Call on government
Polling commissioned by the League and carried out by FindOutNow with analysis by Electoral Calculus in March/April 2024 found that 76% of the public supported stronger fox hunting laws, including a clear majority in rural areas.
The League is calling on the government to fulfil its pledge to ban trail hunting, bringing forward legislation at least by the next parliamentary session, and for stronger hunting laws with prison sentences, a mechanism to stop hunts claiming kills are accidental, and the removal of loopholes in the Hunting Act. It is urging the public to contact their MP.
Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman, the national police lead on fox hunting crime, has previously described trail hunting as a "smokescreen for illegal fox hunting" and illegal hunting as "prolific". Fox hunting was banned in England and Wales when the Hunting Act came into force on 18 February 2005.
