British Wildlife Management - British Wildlife Management

The National Trust Council, after pioneering research on wildlife and deer management over some fifteen years, must now accept the clear cut conclusions of the accumulated evidence now available, including its own research, which illustrates that the use of soft temperament scent hounds in deer management is not only more humane, by a factor of at least 10, but also represents the only satisfactory system of properly managing wild red deer in the West County.

An immediate abandonment of the current extravagant and damaging deer management policy, which could place at risk its charitable status, is required for the following reasons:

1. The Trust is in breach of its statutory obligation to protect the red deer on the property they manage and hold in trust for the whole nation, including future generations. In simple language, the best quality stock are being slaughtered, and the herds are being reduced in size, against the wishes of other interested parties.
2. The Trust is in breach of its constitutional duty to take into account the sensitivities of local communities, it's tenants, and the wishes of its donors. It has lost credibility at local level by a clear majority of the rural population.
3. The Trust is knowingly causing unnecessary suffering by allowing casualty deer to suffer lingering and painful deaths, because their ban prevents the hunts from fully operating their deer casualty services, on and anywhere near Trust property. On any assessment this is an outrageous and unnecessary situation.
4. The Trust is needlessly wasting money on go it alone deer management, which would willingly be provided free of charge by the rural community. This selfish action damages the rural community, and disrupts the attempts to coordinate deer management under the system recommended by reports that they themselves commissioned.
5. The Trust council has been seduced by corrupt animals rights propaganda. In continuing to justify a ban on suffering claims, they ignore those better equipped to make sensible animal welfare judgements (for example, their own stalker), and falsely accuse others of causing unnecessary suffering.

September 2000

The National Trust does have a statutory obligation to preserve wild animals in their natural habitat. Their main concern therefore is the preservation of the red deer on Exmoor and the Quantocks. This is a task that has been carried out very successfully in the past by the farmers and tenants of the National Trust, through their involvement and support for deer hunting. Historically protection of the deer has been proven to fail when the hunt did not operate.

In 1982 and in the Spring of 1989, Trust policy on Field Sports (unfortunately and misleadingly named) was publicly stated as follows.

Since its foundation in 1895 the Trust, very dependent on the goodwill of country people, whether as donors, neighbours, tenants or staff, has adopted the following practice on field sports. Where hunting is rooted in local tradition, does not contravene the wishes of former owners of the land and is not harmful to nature conservation, public recreation or it's tenants rights or interests, the Trust has allowed it to continue. In some instances, where the land was let on a full agricultural tenancy prior to Trust ownership, the contract precludes the Trust from having any say in the matter.

The policy considerations which the National Trust Council must bear in mind when discharging their responsibilities are stated in para. 22 of Lord Oliver's Report on the workings of the Trust's Constitution published in March 1993.

It is therefore of great importance to the continuance of the Trust and to its standing in the community that its governing body should be composed of persons possessed of the necessary skills, standing, abilities and experience to ensure that the governance of the Trust is carried on to reflect the following critical considerations - First, that the Trust is not a trust either exclusively or mainly for the benefit of those who contribute, however generously, to its support, whether they be donors of property or supporters paying life or annual subscription. It is, in the terms of its foundation a trust for the whole nation including future Generations.

Secondly, in carrying out the objects of the Trust, it policy must take into account the sensibilities of local communities, the interests of tenants of the Trust's properties and, so far as is consistent with the Trust's objects, the wishes of the donors of properties. These considerations may not appear to be immediately within the expressed objects of the Trust, but they have a critical importance in the proper conduct of its affairs (end of extract).

The National Trust's Savage Report (1993) repeats the conclusions of the Scott Henderson committee (1951) that in hunting inevitably some suffering was involved, but it was no greater than that involved in any other practical method of control, and that in their opinion it involved less cruelty than shooting. The facts of this matter are that the National Trust Council is in breach of statutory obligations and duties under its charitable status.