THE RSPCA has welcomed the decision by Natural Resources Wales to ban trail hunting on its land.

NRW, a Welsh Government sponsored body, manages more than 350,000 acres of land across the country.

It was announced yesterday (Thursday 18 November) that NRW will no longer issue licences for trail hunting on land it controls - and RSPCA Cymru is urging other landowners to follow suit.

RSPCA head of public affairs David Bowles said: “This is a very welcome move from Natural Resources Wales, and marks a major step towards curtailing illegal hunting.

“The use of the scent of dead animals such as foxes as used by trail hunts is totally unnecessary as it can result in the hounds chasing live foxes rather than following the scent trail. There are other alternatives, such as drag hunting, in which hounds follow an artificially laid scent which is not derived from animals, so does not pose a threat to wildlife.

“We are concerned that legal trail hunting is being used to create a smoke screen to allow illegal hunting with dogs to continue, as a recent successful prosecution showed where hunters were encouraged to use trail hunting as a cover for illegal fox hunting - so this move to ban is wholly welcome, and we urge other landowners to follow suit in the interests of animal welfare.”

Natural Resources Wales is the first big landowner to stop the trail hunting which was recently described as a “sham” in court and a “smokescreen” for illegal fox hunting.

The board of Natural Resources Wales decided “the outcome of the court case against a senior leader of the Masters of Fox Hounds Association (MFHA) has resulted in a loss of confidence in the organisation’s ability to ensure its activities are carried out within the law and terms of its agreement”.

Head of Land Stewardship at NRW, Dominic Driver, said: “In order to assure ourselves properly that trail hunting wasn’t being used as a cover for illegal activity, we would have to invest in skills and resources that we currently don’t have, to police it properly.

"Given what has historically been a minor use of the land we manage, this does not represent good use of our limited resources.”

Rachel Evans, from the Countryside Alliance’s Director for Wales said in response: “We are concerned that the decision taken by NRW is a purely political one.

"This decision comes after a similar ban was implemented on game shooting, an activity which is incredibly important to the Welsh rural economy.”

A statement from the Hunting Office said: “It is disappointing that NRW didn’t consult with the MFHA before making this decision however, we hope that further consultation may be possible following the review that we are currently conducting.”