Petition North Yorkshire Council to ban trail hunting on council owned land
In July North Yorkshire Councillor Rich Maw (Labour, Weaponness & Ramshill division) put forward a Motion to ban so-called 'trail hunting' on council owned land.
The Motion was heard at a Meeting of Full Council, Wednesday, 19th July, 2023 and Rich called on all of us to email North Yorkshire councillors asking them to support his motion.
To make things as easy as possible, Protect the Wild created a petition with a version of his email which was sent to a rotating selection of five councillors in different parties on the council (for a full list and email addresses of all ninety councillors go to Action Against Foxhunting).
Our petition North Yorkshire Council - Ban trail hunting on council owned land is now closed but 6796 people took action - thank you for supporting wildlife in North Yorkshire.
Trail Hunting is a smokescreen and a lie.
In 2004 the passing of the Hunting Act made fox hunting illegal. Since then hunts have claimed to be following artificial scent trails rather than deliberately hunting wild mammals. This is nothing but a lie.
Trail hunting is a smokescreen used as a means to continue to illegally hunt wild foxes.
In November 2020 hunting official Mark Hankinson along with other senior hunters spoke of this ‘smokescreen’ during a Hunting Office webinar which was leaked to the public.
The hunts still train their dogs to hunt foxes by the odious practice of ‘cubbing’, euphemistically called ‘autumn hunting.’
Hunts still used bagged foxes – these are foxes that are released in front of hounds • The hunts still maintain artificial earths so there is a supply of foxes to hunt.
Hunts still use terriermen to dig out foxes or to flush foxes ahead of a hunt.
Hunts are still operating in habitats where they know foxes will be.
Hunts have got away with illegal hunting for so long they don’t even bother to lay trails and when they do it is simply for show.
Because of the lack of credible trails, their dogs end up in cemeteries, gardens, and on railway lines. They also cause accidents on roads. Wherever 'trail hunts' go, hunt havoc inevitably follows.
Despite being banned by law a staggering thirteen Hunts operate in North Yorkshire according to “northyorkshirehorse”: Derwent, Sinnington, York & Ainsty North, Bedale, Bilsdale, Cleveland, Goathland & Glaisdale, Hurworth, Middleton, Staintondale, Highmoor Bloodhounds, West of Yore, York & Ainsty South.
These hunts depend on friendly land owners allowing them on to ther land.
That MUST NOT include land owned by North Yorkshire Council.
As Councillow Maw says in his Motion:
"This council has a duty to uphold the law. We must be pro-active...in order to guarantee the safety of North Yorkshire’s wildlife"
He is calling upon Council:
To ban trail hunting, exempt hunting, hound exercise and hunt meets outright across all council land where legally possible, including any NEW tenancies where there are positive covenants attached to the land that currently require the council as owner to allow trail hunting events and formal gatherings; and
Requests that the Chairman considers that the matter be debated today at Council without being referred to the Executive or a relevant committee.
This is because the hunting season is September to March and therefore this motion requires debating at the July full council as to do so in November will potentially put the lives of wildlife at risk.
URGENT!
