Positive about change

At the end of the hunting season, Polly Portwin looks ahead to the challenges on the horizon. This article first appeared in the spring issue of My Countryside magazine.

One of hunting's greatest strengths is the ability it has to survive change. Whether increasing urbanisation or threats of further political upheaval have been the influencing factors, hunting has always adapted to absorb the fluctuations in its fortunes.

For generations there have been challenges that those at the sharp end have had to overcome in order to ensure their packs can continue to thrive. Access to sufficient land is key for every pack yet ever-increasing urbanisation has meant that certain areas of hunt country may no longer be safely accessible. High speed railways have created difficulties in some areas and where the development of HS2 is currently underway, the various hunts across the midlands whose country it cuts through are having to reconsider their traditional draws in order to avoid the areas where it is devastating the countryside.

In 2018, in a column in Horse & Hound, Simon Hart, then chairman of the Countryside Alliance, and now Secretary of State for Wales wrote: "Hunting is at a crossroads, one of many it has encountered in its 1,000-year history. Wars, roads, railways, wire, disease, politics and urbanisation are just a few things that have been hailed by some as 'the beginning of the end' for hunting."

He continued: "Hunting is remarkably durable, but it has never witnessed the current level of complication and, let's face it, pressure." That pressure has far from eased in the time since those words were published.
With threats to the future of hunting in Northern Ireland, the recent publication of the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill (see page 35), and the continued threat of the Labour Party commitments to make it all but impossible to take a pack of hounds out into the countryside in England and Wales if they ever come to power, hunting finds itself under the political spotlight once again.

Perhaps the most difficult part is accepting the reality that change is necessary in order for survival to be possible. As I know only too well, for those immersed in the organisation of several days' hunting per week it can be difficult to look at a situation as objectively as those who sit slightly apart and look on with unbiased eyes. Across the country though, hunt supporters spanning many generations have expressed their views that they are ready to make sacrifices to ensure that packs of hounds continue to be seen in the countryside for generations to come.

The end of the season is now upon us and it allows for a period of reflection before staff and mastership changes take effect on 1st May ahead of the hectic summer schedule occupying many slots in the diaries for those who recognise that being a hunt supporter is a year-round commitment.

Andrew Osborne, chairman of the Masters of Foxhounds Association, recently updated members regarding a review which had been conducted into the governance of hunting activities. He explained that the current challenge is to ensure that hunting is run effectively and to ensure all stakeholders have confidence that hunts are operating legitimately.

"It has been suggested and widely accepted that the hunting associations should step back from the overall governance and supervision of hunting. Instead, we are aiming to have two separate organisations," he wrote.
Osborne, a former amateur huntsman who took on the role in May 2021, described that "a single inclusive new body" will undertake the governance of all hunting activities and it will be responsible for setting the standards and rules to which all members and member hunts must adhere. Secondly, Mr Osborne announced that "a separate Regulatory Authority" will administer all regulation and disciplinary matters for members and member hunts, according to the rules set by the governing body.

In order to ensure the highest standards of animal welfare in kennels are maintained and that lawful hunting activities are conducted at all times, assessment and accreditation will be required. This news should give a boost to the hunting community that the future of hunting is being taken seriously by those with the ability to influence change, as well as assuring the police, politicians and the public as well as other stakeholders, such as institutional landowners, that they can have confidence in hunts' conduct too.

With legislation being proposed in parliament currently about the use of non-animal based scent for trail hunting, the Alliance is all too aware that the perception of our activities must change to prevent further call for the Hunting Act to be strengthened. When hunts are openly demonstrating that they are operating within the confines of the Hunting Act and our detractors are unable to make allegations that hunts are riding roughshod over the law – albeit a bad law that has not saved the life of a single fox or hare – there should be every opportunity for a renewed Campaign for Hunting which puts hunting on the front foot.

As our Chairman, Nick Herbert, wrote in The Telegraph in December 2019: "The case for country sports must be comprehensively rebuilt. Our defence will rest on three pillars: science, standards and social licence. First, we must demonstrate the evidence that country sports play a major role in conservation and species management, pouring millions of pounds into protecting and enhancing the natural world. We must show the economic contribution of our sports in rural areas, not just in jobs sustained but through investment in natural capital to the benefit of all."

Like many activities, hunting may have taken place "behind closed doors" during the periods of lockdown, but we have remained in the public eye throughout. Social media platforms have enabled our activities to be shared to a wider audience which has been incredibly beneficial for large numbers of packs who have galvanised support, boosted fundraising and shown the community spirit within hunts, but it has also enabled spurious allegations and mistruths about hunting to be widely broadcast too. There is no doubt that we should continue to use these platforms to publicise the important role of hunts and to use them to demonstrate how hunts are working within the law, but we must also remember that at the touch of a button it can also be used to share facts and footage that can soon damage the reputation of all those who hunt and we cannot be our own worst enemies.

Whether you follow packs of hounds on foot,in a car or on horseback; we must all stand united. Twenty years ago, over 400,000 people marched across London to protect the "Liberty & Livelihood" of those living and working in the countryside and never has the support of those people been more needed than today. The Alliance is ready to face the challenges ahead and welcomes the opportunity to work for our members alongside hunts and their supporters to embrace the changes required with positivity, knowing that we are all playing our part in adapting to ensure there is a long-term and sustainable future for hunting with hounds.