DENIED: Council rejects Boxing Day parade for Dunston Harriers

'This tradition has had its day'

Wymondham Town Council in Norfolk has rejected a request from the Dunston Harriers to hold a Boxing Day parade in the town centre this year. Councillors cited various reasons for the decision, including public opposition, damage to the town's image, and health and safety concerns.

The overwhelming feeling amongst those present – councillors and members of the public – was that hunting is not something to celebrate. As one councillor put it, "It's a tradition that's had its day."

Swift and stark turnaround of support

Wymondham Town Council considered the proposed parade during a meeting on 3 September. The Dunston Harriers have been parading through the town's marketplace on Boxing Day for many years, with most councillors voting the event through in previous years.

In a stark reversal of fortunes for the hunt, however, this year's parade has been rejected by an overwhelming majority of councillors. Three members of the public also spoke on the issue at the meeting, including an ex-member of the council. This latter individual was the only person present to vigorously support the parade. The other two members of the public argued against the event taking place.

Majority of residents against the hunt

During his intervention, the ex-council member urged councillors to base their decision on what the residents of Wymondham want, rather than their own personal opinions. "Give the people of Wymondham what they actually vote for with their feet," he said, when they turn up for the Boxing Day parade.

But as one councillor pointed out, even if a couple of thousand people turn out for the parade, that means the rest of the town's approximately 17,000-strong population are not showing support for the event.

This is in keeping with what councillors said they heard from residents, who mostly contacted them to oppose the Boxing Day parade. Business owners were among those who reached out to raise concerns, including about the impact on their trade and how the town is perceived.

Recklessly endangering wildlife

The Dunston Harriers describes itself as a Norfolk trail hunt, meaning it claims to lay trails for its dogs to follow when hunting. Nonetheless, three people connected to the hunt ended up in court in 2023 after a monitor from Norfolk and Suffolk Against Live Quarry Hunting caught the Dunston Harriers' hounds on camera chasing a hare in January 2022.

The individuals were found not guilty of illegal hunting. There was no question that the dogs had chased a hare, but ultimately this was deemed to be accidental and therefore, not a crime.

As evidence from monitors and saboteurs shows, hunts routinely chase and kill wildlife. But unless this persecution of wildlife can be proven to be intentional, rather than accidental, it is not punishable under the current law.

This is one of the core issues with the Hunting Act as it stands, and why Protect the Wild insists that it needs to be ripped up and replaced with a vigorous new hunting law that enables prosecution for recklessness, alongside intent.

One of Wymondham's councillors highlighted this issue. Noting that there are hundreds of videos online depicting the killing of wildlife by hunting hounds who are allegedly following a trail, Cllr Lucy Nixon said:

"Whilst the law might deem these killings as accidental, it is my belief that trail hunters recklessly endanger the wildlife population. Human beings are smart enough to know that a hound that's been trained for hunting will not discriminate between the scent they are supposed to be following and a real live animal that crosses their path, particularly when these hungry hounds are usually deliberately not fed the day before a hunt."

In other words, hunters know what can happen, Nixon said, "they just don't care enough to stop their hobby." She concluded that "this historically cruel tradition should not be celebrated in our town."

This tradition has had its day

Other councillors also raised the problem of hunts' control of their hounds and the ramifications of this for health and safety. This is another pertinent issue for the Dunston Harriers. Several of the hunt's hounds died after being struck by a train when they ran onto a railway line in October 2022 while being exercised.

This is not an isolated incident. Protect the Wild has regularly reported on hound casualties and near misses linked to a lack of control by hunts. Considering this issue, some Wymondham councillors suggested that any lack of control of hounds, or indeed horses, could pose a potential safety risk should the parade go ahead.

Summing up what appeared to be the general consensus in the room, Cllr Michael Rosen said:

"Times have changed, the town has changed, it's a tradition that's had its day, and we should not be supporting this."

• Images of Dunston Harriers 'trail hunting' by South Norfolk Hunt Saboteurs, who regularly sab the Dunston Harriers. You can support the South Norfolk Hunt Sabs by buying them a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/sonosabs