Essex County Council votes to allow continuation of trail-hunting

Members of the Countryside Alliance and supporters of hunting in Essex were rewarded for lobbying their County Councillors when a vote to ban trail-hunting and hound exercise on County Council land was defeated during a meeting of the Full Council at County Hall on Tuesday, 14^th May 2019.

During the debate a number of views expressed by our supporters were referred to by the Councillors speaking in support of the continuation of trail-hunting. One Councillor stated that during his 23 years as a Councillor, this was the first time he had been lobbied by members of the public on a motion before Council.

Tim Bonner, Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance said: "We are very pleased that the Council voted against a motion to ban the legal activities of trail hunting and hound exercise. It is a great shame that councillors had to waste time on such a pointless and divisive debate, but we are very grateful that they rejected the proposal.

"Hunts in Essex have been hunting an artificial scent perfectly legally since the Hunting Act came into force in 2005. There are at least 8 packs of hounds operating in the county throughout the autumn and winter yet none has ever been charged with a hunting offence, let alone convicted of one, so the suggestion that they are not hunting lawfully is completely unfounded.

"Hunting continues to attract support across Essex as people continue to enjoy following and watching hounds working in the countryside."

Click here to listen to the motion being debated – it starts at approx. 92mins 10 seconds.