ANTI-HUNT campaigners will take their protest to the National Trust’s HQ today.
The protesters have called on the Rodbourne-based charity to ban hunting from their land.
Led by Leicestershire resident Hellen Beynon, the group will bring a motion to the trust’s annual general meeting next month.
If voted through by trust members, the motion would see “trail hunting” – where hounds follow an artificial scent – and the exercising of hunting hounds banned at National Trust properties.
The charity have said that it had already moved to ban the use of fox-based scents by hunt organisers, which they said was a “major contributor to the potential for accidental fox chases”.
They would also ban “terrier-men”, whose role in the past was to dig out foxes from their underground homes – called “earths”.
A spokesman for the trust said: “Our clear, robust, and transparent set of conditions – which follow a six-month review – are designed to allow participants to enjoy this activity in compatibility with our conservation aims.”
However, Ms Beynon has questioned whether the trust’s new approach would prevent the accidental death of foxes at the hands of packs of hounds.
She said: “Foxhounds are bred to hunt foxes and it would be impossible to change what they have been taught during cubbing season.
“This cruelty will only stop when the trustees ban it.”
The protest, which has been organised by the League Against Cruel Sports, will meet at the National Trust’s Heelis building, near the Designer Outlet at 11.30am today.
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