Fox hunters want protection under the Equality Act. No, not parody.

  • Post last modified:August 13, 2024
  • Reading time:9 mins read


Over the weekend, a fox hunters campaign group claimed that it was seeking legal protection for people who had ‘pro-hunting views’. Somewhat hilariously, fox hunters believe they should have the same protection as the Roma community and LGBTQ+ people under the UK Equality Act 2010.

Fox hunters: protected characteristics, apparently…

Seeing as though hunting is almost exclusively reserved for rich, upper class folk who think they are above humane hobbies, it is hilarious that they think they deserve even more protection than their money already affords them:

As reported in Mail Online, a senior barrister advised Hunting Kind – a hunting pressure group – that a legal challenge could get them the same status as an ethnic group. Supposedly, this is due to ‘a long shared history, distinct customs and common ancestors’.

The Equality Act 2010 was introduced to protect groups with certain characteristics from discrimination. The act covers: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation:

People on X were quick to point out that it was in fact the foxes that needed protecting:

Classism – plain and simple

People would raise their eyebrows if young people in hoodies were violently chasing after animals. So why do these ‘hunters’ get a free pass? Well, because normal rules don’t apply when it’s rich white men:

Only yesterday, Sheffield hunt saboteurs were met with a heavy police presence after seeing off a large grouse hunt on the Wemmergill Estate in County Durham.

Whilst Grouse hunting is not illegal (in season) it is not a practice that is compatible with conservation in the midst of a climate crisis:

In an interview several years ago, Chris Packham explained that Grouse hunting increases wildlife crime.

For example, hunters are illegally killing many birds of prey, including hen harriers, peregrines, buzzards, red kites, goshawk, and even a barn owl. Grouse hunting also persecutes weasels and stouts, crows, foxes, and red squirrels. Traps often kill these animals slowly and painfully, or hunters beat them to death. As Packham said:

They allow levels of suffering that we would never tolerate if these were domestic animals.

The epitome of privileged

Back in 2023, the Canary reported that fox hunting injuries were through the roof. Rich, white people continue to break the law as they routinely track, hunt, and kill foxes for enjoyment.

The Hunting Act 2004 outlawed the practice, and hunts consistently claim they don’t deliberately kill foxes anymore. However, illegal hunting is still ‘prolific’. Hunt saboteurs regularly report on illegal hunts taking place, along with hunts that are legal but controversial and barbaric – such as the grouse hunt this weekend.

According to Protect the Wild, fox hunters:

were people whose everyday experiences were of privilege, of never being told ‘no’, of untouchability. Britain is vastly different now of course, but to some extent the insulated lives of the fox hunting elite didn’t change all that much over the years. They still went to Eton or Gordonstoun, still had a powerful presence in the House of Lords, the judiciary, and industry, and still had enormous influence in rural areas (owning many of the major local businesses) seeing themselves as the only people who really understood how the countryside worked and how it should be controlled.

Similar to today’s climate – whilst some people go hungry and can’t heat their homes, rich white people gather to show off their wealth while going unpunished for breaking the law:

The system still allows rich white people to kill animals for fun. We guess it speaks to the much larger picture – colonialism, genocide, and white people believing they are above the law.

Feature image via The Dodo/Youtube 





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