Hunting in Oxfordshire 'still rife' says national animal welfare charity

LACS has compiled eye-witness reports relating to 485 incidents of suspected illegal fox hunting activity between October and early March across Britain.

They claim this included 12 incidents in Oxfordshire, making the county one of the hotspots for hunting in Britain. A number of hunts covers the area known as Banburyshire. They are the Warwickshire Hunt, the Bicester with Whaddon Chase, the Heythrop Hunt and the Grafton Hunt.

The Countryside Alliance says hunting takes place within the restrictions of the Hunting Act 2004 which banned the hunting of wild mammals with dogs. And they urge the public not to believe the LACS claims.

LACS cites one local incident when two men associated with the Kimblewick Hunt (which hunts in Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire) were given suspended prison sentences at Oxford Magistrates Court in November 2019 after causing unnecessary suffering to a fox and releasing it into the path of a hunt.

New polling commissioned by the League and undertaken by Survation showed that more than two thirds of the British public believe hounds still hunt foxes.

Chris Luffingham, director of campaigns at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “Our figures sadly show the shocking extent to which the hunts are still flagrantly chasing and killing foxes in Oxfordshire despite the fox hunting ban coming into force 15 years ago. These figures are based on the intelligence we have gathered throughout the season and we fear the true figure could be much higher.

“The vast majority of the British people oppose fox hunting and yet our polling reveals that most are aware it is still sadly going on - it would be a popular move by the government once the coronavirus crisis ends to take the steps to consign this brutal activity to the history books.”

The league says eyewitness reports relate to 110 different fox hunts across 54 counties in England, Scotland and Wales. LACS maintains hunts use the excuse they were ‘trail’ hunting, which, they say 'purports to mimic traditional hunting in all respects, except that hunts claim to be following an artificially laid scent'.

"It is often indistinguishable in practice from traditional hunting, other than labelling the inevitable chasing and killing of animals as an ‘accident’. However, this happens more by design than accident," the League said.

"Our figures also include 102 cases of badger sett interference, a common practice by hunts engaged in illegal hunting. The setts are either blocked up to prevent foxes fleeing underground or are dug up to get to a fox out. Both practices are illegal and if ‘trail’ hunting was real, simply wouldn’t take place. There were four cases of this in Oxfordshire."

Polly Portwin from the Countryside Alliance said: “The latest figures from LACS in relation to Oxfordshire cannot be taken at face value since they were compiled from unsubstantiated reports, while some were also published on social media with no evidence to support their claims.

"There is absolutely no evidence to suggest these allegations are true. We always stress that if there is any evidence to suggest illegal hunting has taken place, then it should be reported and investigated through the correct channels. Hunts are in regular contact with the police on hunting days and are happy to help with any investigations.

“As has been proven on numerous occasions in court, the evidence provided by anti-hunting activists almost always fails to support their claims of illegal hunting activity.

“The Alliance continues to urge the police and the CPS to carefully consider whether allegations made by committed and prejudiced activists should lead to charges being brought and we appeal to the public not to automatically believe the claims made by alleged ‘eyewitnesses’ are true.”