Welcome to the MFHA website
The Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA) represents 176 packs of foxhounds that hunt in England and Wales and a further 10 in Scotland.
This website will help you find out more about your local Hunt and foxhunting in general - What it is - Where it happens - How you can take part or have a look. To find and/or contact your local pack, visit the Find a Pack section of our website.
There are links to to other important sites which include insights into all the key issues - Animal welfare - Jobs - Social and cultural - Pest control as well as a range of other subjects.
About the MFHA
The Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA) represents 176 packs of foxhounds that hunt in England and Wales and a further 10 in Scotland.
The MFHA has strict rules and codes of conduct that have been specially written to promote standards of best practice both in the Kennels and in the Field and to prove the accountability of their member packs.
All Masters of the MFHA have to agree to abide by the Association’s rules, codes of conduct and instructions.
The MFHA undertakes a rolling programme of Kennel visits which are carried out by respected and appointed individuals on a regular cycle in order to ensure that all the rules are adhered to and standards are maintained.
There are considerable sanctions available to the MFHA which include disqualification of any member hunt or individual.
Statement on the Human Rights Challenge to the Hunting Act
“The Human Rights challenge to the Hunting Act was launched back in 2004. The case was heard in the High Court, Appeal Court, and House of Lords, who all had sympathy for our point of view, but felt unable to overrule the wishes of elected Parliamentarians, whatever the quality of the argument. Recently The European Court of Human Rights has said that, although hunting was "part of the fabric and heritage of rural communities" that Parliament was justified in legislating where it judged an activity was "morally and ethically objectionable". The court has therefore dismissed our application, not on the basis which the Government used to justify the Hunting Act; an unproven benefit to animal welfare, but because it considers that Parliament is justified in acting on subjective judgments about the morality of an activity. This was not the argument that Ministers or supporters of the Act used to promote it at the time. Thankfully the importance of the Human Rights case has diminished as parliamentarians have come to accept that the 'moral judgment' that led to the Act was prejudiced and that laws created on that basis are bound to be unworkable and fail. The European Court of Human Rights concludes that as the Hunting Act was passed by the UK Parliament, then it should be for the UK Parliament to decide on its future. We think that once it has this opportunity the Act it will almost certainly be repealed.”