The Hunting Act 2004 outlaws hunting of wild mammals, including foxes, with dogs. Not only the hunters themselves, but the owner of land they hunt on and the supplier of dogs for the hunt may be charged with criminal offences.

However, in an appeal case conducted in 2009, the Administrative Court held effectively that ‘hunting’ under the Act does not include the mere searching for an as yet unidentified wild mammal. It seems therefore that going to a meeting equipped with dogs from which a fox hunt may ensue is not in itself illegal. Nor is the use of one or at most two dogs “to stalk and flush out” the fox, if it is then dispatched by immediate shooting.

‘Trail hunting’, under which hounds follow the scent of a fox or other wild mammal rather than a live one, is also legal. But what if the hunt starts in this way, but the dogs then pick up a live scent and chase after it? Prosecution will only be successful if the hunters can be shown to have been aware and had the opportunity to stop them.

SABOTAGE TACTICS 

Hunt saboteurs – ‘sabs’, who have no qualms in identifying themselves as such – set out to disrupt hunting. Their main tactic is to confuse the hounds by making the same noises as are made by the hunters’ calls. The sabs blow bugles and sometimes put citronella down if there’s a pursuit going on. If a fox is trying to escape the hounds and crosses the path of the sabs, they will crack a whip because its use can divert the chasing pack the wrong way.

From the sabs’ point of view, the hunters’ treatment of the hounds is a further aggravation. According to Rowan Hughes of the Hunt Saboteurs Association, they are kept in cages and are not treated like pets because they have to be aggressive enough to tear a fox to pieces. Once a hound becomes older than five or six years it is killed. “They are a tool in the process, like a piece of machinery,” she says. “They are kept so they’re able to run well, similar to maintaining a vehicle that you want to do a good job. They’re kept in kennels together. And if they’re not very good at it, or they get too old and they’re losing their speed, or if there are just more than are needed, then they’re shot without any kind of compassion. If injured, they are not taken to a vet – that’s not financially manageable.”

Ms Hughes admits that hunt saboteurs sometimes trespass onto private land. That’s because they’re trying to save cruelty to an animal. From the sabs’ perspective the illegality lies almost exclusively with the hunt. Hunters also commit trespass when chasing foxes, including through people’s gardens or nature reserves.

To her, the law seems “deliberately woolly”, making prosecutions very difficult. Hunts are not really policed, which is partly why hunt saboteurs carry out monitoring. “We need a tightening of the law as soon as possible to make it a workable system that effectively stops hunting,” she argues. “Until then, hunters will continue to break the law and we will continue to try to stop them. But whatever the legal status of hunting, we will oppose it, campaign against it, and directly intervene wherever possible to save lives.”

The South Downs and Eridge Hunt was approached via its website for comment both on its general practice and on the events of New Years Day at Herstmonceux, but has not responded.