Many animal rights organisations, such as PETA UK, Humane Society International, League Against Cruel Sports, the RSPCA, Save Me, and Animal Defenders International, attended the protest led by Queen guitarist Brian May, to urge MPs to vote against watering down the ban on fox hunting.
"We want to see fox hunting remain a thing of the past"
PETA Director Mimi Bekhechi told Closer: “Fox hunting was banned years ago and that is exactly where it belongs.
“We want to see the fox hunting act remain intact. We want to see fox hunting remain a thing of the past.”
Campaigners blocked the road outside the Houses of Parliament, dressed in fox costumes, wearing fox hats or with realistic theatrical wounds.
An Animal Defenders International (ADI) representative stated “We’ve been overwhelmed by the support of the public…we’re very pleased that we have even more time to let even more people know that the government is trying dirty tricks to quash their voice but we will not let this happen.
"We are going to keep fighting for the ban.”
The march’s leader Brian May exclaimed to protestors: “This is a very very important day for our animals and a very important day for our democracy…we have an incredibly unexpected, good result and it’s not the way any of us thought it would work out.
"I don’t know if you know already but what’s happened is the government has backed down. I think my first reaction was disappointment because I wanted to see a democratic debate and I wanted to see us win that vote.
"But what’s happened is the government have withdrawn the vote because they know that they couldn’t win it.”
He continued: “How far can Cameron go through with this while he knows that most of the country is against him? He’s wasting energy. He’s telling us that he cares about the economy, he’s trying to work on poverty or whatever, he’s trying to give people jobs, but he’s obsessed with fox hunting.
"How can this be in the day and age of 2015? How can it be that our prime minster is obsessed with bringing back cruel bloodsports? It's disgusting.”
"How can it be that our prime minster is obsessed with bringing back cruel bloodsports? It's disgusting.”
Brian May finished: “Day by day, week by week, month by month, we fight them everywhere. I have a great belief that the public is behind us and when you know that you’re in the right you have a great belief that you will win the end.”
Caroline Lucas, a British Green Party politician, added: “The battle has to go on, this is just a temporary victory, maybe, but actually if we keep up the pressure then we will win this.
"Today is a day of celebration, today is the day where we say to Cameron we have won today and I am sure because of the huge numbers of people, that we will win each time he tries to bring this back.”
Meanwhile Angus Robertson, the SNP's Parliamentary Group Leader, explained to those gathered: “I know that my colleagues in the Scottish government are now going to look at reforming legislation north of the border.
"So we are very keen to remain a beacon of progressive politics, we will work together with our friends from the rest of the UK and the UK parliament wherever we can to back progressive causes.”
But the fight is far from over.
Lorraine Platt, chair of the Blue Fox group (the Conservative group who oppose fox hunting) pleaded with animal lovers to continue to protest the ban being lifted.
She said: “Please do email your MPs, everybody it’s so important.
"We still have to continue this battle against repeal and to save the ban of hunting with dogs.”
This postponement of the vote is a victory for campaigners and animals across the country.
However, this is likely not the end of the battle, with Tory ministers surely set to seek a vote on the issue in the near future – once the SNP no longer have a say in what happens on purely English issues.
Fox hunting involves the tracking, tracing and killing of a fox, often using a pack of hounds that will literally rip the animal to pieces after an exhausting chase.
Supporters of the sport claim that hunting foxes prevents overpopulation.
However this is fiercely contended by many animal lovers, who say that foxes are essential for our eco-system, as their skills as predators keep crop damage to a minimum.
Written by Abigail Wilson