Tomorrow, Tuesday 26 May 2026, John Blair MLA's Hunting with Dogs Bill will return to the Northern Ireland Assembly for debate.
Urgently join us in asking MLAs to support the bill which aims to “prohibit hunting wild mammals with dogs; to prohibit trail hunting; to prohibit terrier work; and to set out exemptions from these prohibitions”.
There is massive public support for a ban. A 2024 poll conducted by LucidTalk found that 76% want fox hunting banned. In response to a public consultation on the bill, 80% of respondents living in Northern Ireland said that ending hunting with dogs is important to them.
92,000 people have signed a "Ban hunting with dogs in Northern Ireland" petition https://change.org/p/the-northern-ireland-assembly-ban-hunting-with-dogs-in-northern-ireland
Animal welfare groups across Northern Ireland, including the League Against Cruel Sports and Ulster SPCA, are calling for a ban on fox hunting.
There is no doubt that fox hunting involves extreme cruelty to wildlife. Foxes are chased to exhaustion by packs of dogs and when caught, they are attacked, knocked off their feet, bitten, disembowelled and pulled apart. Foxes who try to escape underground suffer further cruelty. The hunt’s terriermen send terriers down the hole to corner and attack the fox. They dig the clay away from above and the squealing and injured fox is pulled out and brutally killed. The continuation of fox hunting makes a mockery of animal welfare legislation.
Find out more about the bill at
TAKE ACTION NOW
Urgently contact MLAs and appeal ask them to support a ban on fox hunting by voting in favour of John Blair MLA's Hunting with Dogs Bill.
Find phone numbers for MLAs at
https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/contacts.aspx
Email Sinn Fein MLAs
Remind them that at the recent Sinn Fein Ard Fheis, Motion 29 was passed, meaning the party now supports a ban on fox hunting.
aine.murphy@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; aisling.reilly@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; Aoife.Finnegan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; caoimhe.archibald@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; caral.nichuilin@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; cathal.boylan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; ciara.ferguson@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; colm.gildernew@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; eclan.kearney@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; declan.mcaleer@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; deirdre.hargey@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; emma.sheerin@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; gerry.kelly@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; jemma.dolan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; john.odowd@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; linda.dillon@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; liz.kimmins@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; maoliosa.mchugh@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; michelle.oneill@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; nicola.brogan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; orlaithi.flynn@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; padraig.delargy@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; pat.sheehan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; philip.mcguigan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; sinead.ennis@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; cathy.mason@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; danny.baker@mla.niassembly.gov.uk
Email DUP MLAs
david.brooks@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; deborah.erskine@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; joanne.bunting@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; emma.little-pengelly@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; pam.cameron@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; phillip.brett@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; cheryl.brownlee@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; edwin.poots@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; thomas.buchanan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; harry.harvey@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; william.irwin@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; maurice.bradley@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; keith.buchanan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; diane.dodds@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; gary.middleton@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; gordon.lyons@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; jonathan.buckley@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; michelle.mcilveen@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; paul.frew@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; paul.givan@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; stephen.dunne@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; trevor.clarke@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; brian.kingston@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; diane.forsythe@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; peter.martin@mla.niassembly.gov.uk; alan.robinson@mla.niassembly.gov.uk
Sign and share the petitions
Ban hunting with dogs in Northern Ireland
https://www.change.org/p/the-northern-ireland-assembly-ban-hunting-with-dogs-in-northern-ireland
It's time to end hunting with dogs in Northern Ireland
https://takeaction.league.org.uk/page/144213/petition/1