War on the countryside
SNP unleashes new bid to kill off foxhunting AND plans to crack down on grouse shooting
NATIONALISTS are preparing to unleash a twin-barrelled attack on the countryside – vowing to kill off fox-hunting and impose stringent new laws on grouse shooting.
In a decision that will place the SNP on a crash course with field sports fans, delegates at the party’s national council voted for all grouse estates to be licensed to curb wildlife crime.
They also effectively backed an outright ban on all fox hunting.
It seeks to close a legal loophole that allows foxes to be flushed from cover by hounds and shot dead for pest control.
By making it party policy to target the practice, known as ‘flushing to guns’, Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham hopes to garner enough support among Green and Scottish Labour MSPs to force an amendment to the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act of 2002. The SNP also agreed to push for tighter controls on sporting estates amid concerns over recent deaths of several protected birds.
Both motions were welcomed by animal rights activ- ists but greeted with dismay by opponents.
Critics condemned the party’s lurch towards stiffer legislation as excessive.
Scottish Countryside Alliance director Jamie Stewart said: ‘Like any other law, the [2002] Act can secure a conviction where evidence supports the allegations.
‘It is a shame that some people continue to ignore this fact, and the very clear evidence and conclusions of Lord Bonomy’s independent review, simply because of their prejudices.’
In October, Miss Cunningham began public consultation into reform of the Act, which banned the hunting of foxes with hounds.
It comes a year after senior judge Lord Bonomy – commissioned by the Scottish Government to review the legislation – said the laws were ‘unduly complicated’ and must be changed. His recommendations included making it an offence for anyone to hunt ‘intentionally or recklessly’ a wild mammal or ‘use, cause or permit a dog to hunt a wild mammal’.
Tory MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire Rachael Hamilton warned that an outright ban would harm a vital service to farmers and landowners and be seen as unnecessary interference.
She said: ‘A ban is not necessary and doesn’t take into account the key role that organised hunts play in binding together communities.’
The proposal was supported by national council member Jennifer Dunn, a press officer with the League Against Cruel Sports.
The league has collated a three-year dossier claiming to show how Scotland’s hunts on horseback were regularly breaking the law.
Miss Dunn said: ‘In many cases, there were no guns to be seen. Hunts are using loopholes to flout the law. The Government need to listen to their own party activists, the 20,000 people who signed our petition to ban hunting and the 85 per cent of the public who want a ban.
‘And [they need to] commit to ending the barbaric cruelty of foxhunting.’ The SNP also backed calls for stricter licensing of grouse estates – despite the Scottish Government recently asking a team of experts to study the question of moorland management, including licence regulations.
The SNP resolution cites a report by Scottish Natural Heritage which established that a third of tagged golden eagles had ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances.
The RSPB is championing stricter curbs. Head of investigations Ian Thomson said: ‘Self-regulation has failed, with frequent incidents of illegal killing of protected birds.’
But Tory Highlands and Islands MSP Donald Cameron, who sits on Holyrood’s environment committee, branded it ‘a sledgehammer to crack a nut’. He insisted: ‘The majority of gamekeepers work to very high standards.’
Industry body Scottish Land & Estates said ‘some of the toughest’ protection laws were already in place, adding: ‘The number of incidents is diminishing each year.’ The Scottish Government said: ‘We remain committed to ensuring the highest welfare standards for all animals. And we encourage everyone to notify Police Scotland if anyone is suspected of breaking the law.’
‘A ban is not necessary’ ‘Self-regulation has failed’