Helston: Petition calls for ban on trail hunts on public land

A petition calling for Cornwall Council to ban trail hunt meets on council owned and public land is set to be debated at County Hall next week.

The petition collected more than 10,000 signatures in support of the call from Action Against Foxhunting Cornwall.

It is set to be debated by Cornwall councillors at their full council meeting which is being held on Tuesday.

The original petition stated: "Action against Foxhunting Cornwall note that in January 2019 Cornwall Council declared a Climate Emergency and pledged, amongst other commendable policies, to protect our wildlife for future generations. We would therefore request that the Council stand by this pledge and now ban all meets of Trail Hunts on public space and council owned land."

Deborah Hall, who set up the original petition, said she was glad that councillors would have the opportunity to debate the issue.

She said: "We want to stop these hunts from having these meets and going across public land. By supporting this call the council will also be showing that they do not support the hunts.

"Wildlife is in decline and the council has recognised this by declaring a climate emergency and ecological emergency. These hunts damage wildlife habitats by sending packs of dogs across wildlife areas – this is not the best way to protect wildlife.

"Many people support this – most people thought that the hunting ban stopped all this happening and when we explain that the meets still take place they are surprised. They expected it to be illegal when it was banned but it is still going on.

"We believe that a lot of them do go across public land and could be going across council owned farms. If the council supports this ban it will show that they do not condone this action."

Deborah said that supporters of the petition would be addressing the council online during the meeting and explaining the basis of the call.

She added that other councils elsewhere in the country have backed similar bans for hunts to access public land.

"When we go out onto the streets to talk to people about this they are always surprised, we were delighted to get so much support for the petition – we never expected so many signatures.

"We believe that the council will be following the opinion of the majority of the public if they support this call."

Cornwall Council will meet on Tuesday at 10:30am to discuss the petition.

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