"In March 2021 Mini the cat was chased and killed by hunting hounds in a quiet residential area.
The Government should back Mini’s Law (Public and Animal Safety Bill 2021) to ensure safety to the public and animals from hunting activity, such as trail hunts and exercise of hunting hounds.
There are many incidents involving hunting hounds and the situation is now dangerously out of control. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident with a recent report finding that as of March 2021 there is on average one reported incident every two weeks.
Legislation should be introduced to prohibit any activity involving hunting hounds, such as trail hunts and hound exercise, taking place in a residential area or in any other public place"
86,276 signatures
Will also add the following for National Trust Members;
Trail Hunting: National Trust Statement
"Hunting wild mammals with dogs was banned in England and Wales by the Hunting Act of 2004: National Trust land is no exception.
The law does allow what is known as trail 'hunting' to continue. This activity involves people on foot or horseback following a scent along a pre-determined route with hounds or beagles. It effectively replicates a traditional hunt but without a fox being chased, injured or killed.
We paused trail hunting on National Trust land last year (2020) following leaked Hunting Office webinars and a resultant police investigation. We’ve been listening carefully to both sides of a highly polarised and passionate debate around trail hunting and will be considering a number of issues before reviewing our position on trail hunting later this year. This means we will not be operating the usual licence application process during this period."
How to vote online (National Trust Members):
Go to the voting website.
Log in by entering your name, surname, membership no. and post code.
Click the AGM Resolutions button.
Appoint the Chair of the meeting as your proxy.
Put a cross in the box ‘FOR’ the resolution to ban ‘trail’ hunting.
Vote on any other motions (should you so wish, if not leave blank)
Click the 'Next Page' button.
Review your choices, then click 'Submit'
AGM is on the 30th October 2021.
AGM Voting Guidelines:
https://nt.global.ssl.fastly.net/documents/agm-2021-booklet.pdf
AGM Voting Login:
https://secure.cesvotes.com/V3-1-0/nt21/en/login
Sadly none of this is new. Back in the "Golden Age of Fox Hunting" hounds would attack sheep and the call was WHARR SHEEP!" and the huntsmen would beat the dogs off. There are many, many cases of pet dogs, cats, poultry and many other domesticated animals being torn up by hunt hounds. In one case 60 hounds raced after a fox into a cottage and the lady of the house took refuge on the dining room table as they tore the fox to pieces. Much damage to furniture and crockery -and a rather 'humorous' story for the huntsmen. There are instances of estate owners in the 1800s ordering keepers to shoot any foxhound that came onto their land, even private tenants threatening hunts if their dogs entered their gardens -plenty of court cases at which point the "vermin control" excuse was given...to a magistrate who was probably a hunt associate. Hunts also used to kill or drag cats then drag them by rope to get hounds to chase and in more modern times the pro hunts groups often claim foxes kill pet cats and I have seen no evidence of this in 40 years. Prosecutions in these cases needs to be really tough and with those involved very heavy fines hurt more than harsh words. The UK needs an official body to handle these cases and get fox protection or get Police Wildlife Crimes Officers to work harder on gathering evidence as illegal fox and badger hunts still go on and pets killed out of sight are "no problem" for the hunts -"The fox dunnit"