Animal Charity LACS Common Sense

The League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) has performed the most spectacular U-turn. In a confusing display of double thinking, they've managed to contradict two decades of their own campaigning in a single report.

The great contradiction

In one of its reports doing the rounds, Hunting with Dogs: Illegal and Indefensible, LACS boldly proclaimed: "The Hunting Act is the most successful piece of wild animal welfare legislation in history."

Although this might sound impressive, this is the exact same organisation that has spent the last 20 years screaming that the Act is "not working".

If it’s such a huge success for the charity, why does it devote so much time, energy and funds trying to persuade the government to make changes to it?

Leadership in crisis

The confusion starts at the top. Acting CEO Chris Luffingham, whose previous claim to fame was masterminding the Green Party's catastrophic 2015 election campaign, has openly admitted on the LACS website that "the ban didn't work."

Not exactly the ringing endorsement you'd expect from someone now calling it "the most successful legislation in history."

But perhaps this is the kind of analysis and moral posturing we should expect from a so-called charity whose former Chair, Dan Norris, had to step down after being arrested on suspicion of rape and child sex offences.

Norris (left) with BBC presenter Chris Packham (centre) at an event in Parliament hosted by cosmetics brand Lush.

The numbers game

LACS love to wave around their "400+ convictions" over a 10-year period as proof of the Act's success. But here's what they conveniently forget to mention: the vast majority of these had nothing to do with registered hunts.

When it comes to actual prosecutions involving organised trail hunting? Fewer than 30 cases in 20 years.

Sir Ben Wallace, board member of the BHSA, delivered the perfect reality check:

"Last year, there were over 12,000 days of lawful hunting carried out across England and Wales, yet in the 20 years since the original and draconian ban, there have been fewer than 30 successful prosecutions involving BHSA recognised hunts. That tells you everything."

Let's put these numbers into perspective: there are approximately 12,000 days trail hunting per year. Since it’s been 20 years since the Act came into force, there have been approximately 240,000 trail hunting days. This works out to roughly one prosecution for every 8,000 hunting days.  

So, which is it LACS? Is the Hunting Act your crowning achievement or your greatest failure? You can't have it both ways.

If this legislation is truly "the most successful in history," then perhaps it's time to pack up, declare victory, and find something else to complain about. But if it's the disaster you've been claiming for 20 years, then maybe admit your "success story" needs a serious rewrite.