Hunting Act 2004
| Long title | An Act to make provision about hunting wild mammals with dogs; to prohibit hare coursing; and for connected purposes. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 2004 c. 37 |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 18 November 2004 |
| Commencement | 18 February 2005 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amends | Game Act 1831 Game Licences Act 1860 Protection of Animals Act 1911 Protection of Badgers Act 1992 Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 |
| Amended by | Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 |
Status: Amended | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Hunting Act 2004 (c. 37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which bans the hunting of most wild mammals (notably foxes, deer, hares and mink) with dogs in England and Wales, subject to some strictly limited exemptions; the Act does not cover the use of dogs in the process of flushing out an unidentified wild mammal, nor does it affect drag hunting, where hounds are trained to follow an artificial scent.
The Act came into force on 18 February 2005. The pursuit of foxes with hounds, other than to flush out to be shot, had been banned in Scotland two years earlier by the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002. Such hunting remains permitted by the law in Northern Ireland, where the Act does not apply.