Thousands of people have gathered for Boxing Day hunts which took place for the first time in two years without the restrictions that were imposed due to the pandemic.
The Countryside Alliance (CA) said more than 200 packs of hounds – including foxhounds, beagles, harriers, basset hounds, draghounds and bloodhounds – are estimated to have been part of Boxing Day meets held outside pubs, in town centres and on other land suitable for large crowds of people.
Polly Portwin, the CA’s director of the campaign for hunting, said: “Boxing Day meets bring thousands of people together: be it families, friends, neighbours or those within our community who may otherwise be isolated over the festive period.
“Hunts play an important role in rural life, with Boxing Day meets offering the public a chance to watch hunts showcase their hounds, horses and trail hunting activities.”
She said that many of those who attended Boxing Day meets in public places “will have been supporting local cafes, shops and pubs which opened their doors to coincide with the hunt’s presence”.
It comes after anti-hunt groups tried to prevent a number of prominent meets from going ahead this year.
Anti-hunt campaigners brought a town council motion to try to stop an event in the town square in Tiverton, Devon, which is described by the CA as “one of the larger towns that routinely hosts meets”.
The motion was rejected by town councillors in March, the CA said.
A petition, including signatures from across the globe, had called for a meet in Ledbury, Hertfordshire, to be banned.
The CA said: “It will be going ahead normally, with organisers taking extra precautions to protect spectators from a suspected protest.”
The meets were held as an animal welfare charity said that hundreds of “bloodthirsty and shameful” suspected illegal fox hunting incidents took place across the UK in just over a month.
The League Against Cruel Sports said new figures show there were 303 combined incidents of hunt havoc and illegal hunting in just five-and-a-half weeks between November 1 and December 7.
The group said the figures, released to coincide with the Boxing Day fox hunt parades, the biggest day in the hunting calendar, show the “negative impact” the practice has on wildlife and rural communities.
Fox hunting was banned in England and Wales following the introduction of the Hunting Act 2004, which came into force a year later.
But drag hunting, where hounds are trained to follow an artificial scent, is permitted under the legislation.
However, the group said there were 78 reports of a fox being visibly pursued, with eight reported kills and three suspected kills in November and the first week of December.
