The Hunting Act prohibits all hunting of wild animals with a dog. So using a terrier below ground to find a fox would be illegal.
At the time the Hunting Act was passed the Government didn’t want to actually stop gamekeepers from carrying out fox control for landowners. An exemption was created commonly referred to as The Gamekeepers Exemption. The exemption states “that hunting with dogs is illegal” but if some exact criteria are followed then it can be allowed. It allows one dog to be used to flush a fox from underground to a competent person with a gun.
The Gamekeepers exemption states Terrier-men are only permitted to use a dog below ground to prevent or reduce serious damage to game birds or wild birds kept for shooting. It is no surprise that this exemption was to pacify the powerful shooting Industry.
Today’s Terrier-men perform four main roles:
- Preparing the ground – This is to check the area of the planned hunt, in advance, to ensure that foxes are in the area and that they can be found.
- Terrier-men will often block fox holes and badger setts to stop the foxes ‘going to ground’A fox’s natural instinct is to ‘go to ground’ and hide away from danger
- Terrier-men are used to dig or flush out foxes that have ‘gone to ground’
- Terrier-men act as a form of security for hunts, primarily to stop Hunt saboteurs. Terrier-men cover their faces and have been known to block roads and public footpaths, use intimidatory behaviour and language and on occasions assault people legitimately observing the hunt.
There is no purpose for Terrier-men on a clean boot or drag hunt. If a hunt is using Terrier-men, they are blood hunting. There can be no occasion on a Trail Hunt to ‘dig in’ or ‘cover’ fox earths or a badger setts as the hunt hounds are following a pre laid scent trail and not a live animal. If the Terrier-men use a dog to ‘flush’ a fox from underground the Hunting act states that the fox can be shot by a competent person.
It is highly unusual to see guns positioned around a fox being flushed. If a fox is flushed by a terrier to the hunts hounds – it is illegal. Terrier-men have been prosecuted for raising a vixen and cubs and keeping them in synthetic earths where the hunt visits regularly. If no wild foxes are found, Terrier-men release these foxes from sacks in front of the hounds. They are commonly known as ‘bagged foxes’ Only one dog is permitted to be used below ground in the exemption. Most Terrier-man will use two dogs and this can be seen at every illegal hunt. Terriers are often referred to by terrier-men as hard or soft terriers. Soft terriers usually wear location detector collars. They will locate a fox underground and bark at it. The dog will not attack the fox but will keep it in place. This is known as ‘baying’ The Terrier-men will then dig down between the dog and the fox and remove the fox from its tunnel to be killed. As long as that fox isn’t killed by dogs, this is practice is legal under the Hunting Act. A hard terrier will have its collar removed before being put underground. Once it locates the fox it will attack it and the animals will fight to the death. This is illegal under the Hunting Act.
It should be noted that, If the dog does not return within a hour or so, the terrier-men will dig into the tunnel. If the fox has killed the dog, the fox will be pulled from the den. The foxes are often struck with the spade before being thrown to the Hounds, alive.
The Gamekeepers exemption also states that “reasonable steps must be taken to ensure the dog is not harmed. A terrier that kills a fox will receive injuries. They are not taken for veterinary care and many die from infections in their wounds.
Finally, the Gamekeepers Exemption states a fox “must be flushed out from below ground by a dog. It does not state the fox can be dug out from the ground. Digging out cannot be defined as flushing or stalking as detailed in the Hunting Act. Therefore, the main role of the Terrier-men, to dig out an animal that has gone to ground is itself illegal under the Hunting Act.