Home FAQ I saw some illegal hunting. What can I do?
I saw some illegal hunting. What can I do? PDF Print E-mail

Hunting a wild animal with dogs is illegal in England, Wales and Scotland.  If you witness illegal hunting there are a number of things you can do:

  1. If you have a camera of any kind (even on a mobile phone!) try to capture images of the incident, its aftermath or the people involved.  Be careful though!
  2. Make a note of the date,time and location of the incident.
  3. Make a note of any vehicle registrations that are connected with the incident.  E.g. if you saw a fox killed by a pack of hounds and the body was picked up by somebody in a Landrover.
  4. As soon as you can, write down what you saw.
  5. Report the incident to the police and ask for a Crime Reference number.  Make a note of the name of the officer who received the report.
  6. If the incident happened on public land, put in a formal complaint about illegal activities taking place. Hunts may only use Forestry Commission or MOD land under a strict licence.  Breaching that licence can mean they are no longer allowed to use that land.  Similarly, charitable bodies such as the National Trust, Woodland Trust or local charitable trusts or parish councils will take a dim view of law breaking on their land and may remove any "sporting rights" they have given the hunt.
  7. Inform your local paper, radio station and/or TV station.  They will be especially interested if the land in question is public land, a local beauty spot or the police are investigating.  If you do not want to have your name mentioned in any report or your photo taken make sure you tell them.  They will usually quote you but state you did not want to give your name for fear of reprisals.
If the hunted animal has not been caught and the situation allows for it, you could act to save its life!  This is what hunt saboteurs do day in, day out.  See the Tactics section for more information.
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From the archives...

Fox hunts revert to type…

HSA News Release 19th January 2009

Fox hunts revert to type…

Violence and lawbreaking has returned to the countryside in 2009 as fox hunts continue to hunt and kill in spite of the hunt ban, and hunt supporters resort to violence and theft in order to protect the lawbreakers.

All hunts get extra media attention on Boxing Day and they tend to be on their very best behaviour, but once the spotlight it off it’s only hunt saboteurs and hunt monitors who witness what’s really happening.

At the Avon Vale Fox Hunt on 27th December, seven Hunt Saboteurs were in attendance to investigate claims of illegal hunting. Before they were able to unpack their cameras and start to gain evidence of law breaking, they were attacked by up to 15 armed men wearing balaclavas. The assailants broke a camcorder and stole the batteries before setting about the group. When police were called four times, one officer eventually arrived who seemed unconcerned about investigating the allegations of assault and theft.

Read more...