Police say ban on foxhunting is ‘unworkable’
THE law banning foxhunting in Scotland is unclear and unworkable, police have told a judge reviewing the legislation.
They say the wording of the ban brought in 14 years ago has created confusion which has allowed illegal hunting with dogs to continue.
There are thought to have been no successful prosecutions under the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act.
Last year the Scottish Government commissioned a review of the legislation and Lord Bonomy is expected to deliver his findings within weeks.
Yesterday almost 300 written submissions to his review were published, including Police Scotland’s assessment of the law.
In it, Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham told the judge: ‘The current legislation has become somewhat unworkable due to the exceptions available, the lack of clarity over key terminology and the lack of individual accountability.’
He said terms such as ‘stalking’ had not been defined in the Act, leading to confusion which ‘deflected from the original intention of the legislation’.
He added: ‘To make this legislation more effective and workable offences need to be simplified and terms expanded.’
When the Labour/Lib-Dem coalition government brought in the law, hunters were banned from allowing packs of dogs to kill foxes.
But organised hunts can still use dogs to flush out the mammals and drive them towards those waiting with shotguns.
There are claims that dogs are still hunting and killing foxes.
Mr Graham said lack of clarity meant police had been unable to establish the ‘high threshold of evidence required to prove and, ultimately, report cases’.
He added it was hard to prove someone was ‘deliberately’ in possession or control of dogs which were hunting and suggested the word be deleted.
This would mean they would be breaking the law whether or not they intended to let the dogs hunt. Mr Graham said: ‘If the original intention of [the law] was for dogs to be used only for the purpose of searching to flush a mammal from cover to guns then the legislation needs to reflect this rigorously.’
Robbie Marsland, director of the League Against Cruel Sports (LCS) Scotland, claimed many hunts were ‘trying to pull the wool over our eyes’ and said it was easy to get around the law.
He said his group conducted a two-year investigation into Scottish foxhunts and ‘they were driving a coach and horses through the present legislation’.
He added: ‘We agree with police – the law as it stands is “unworkable”. Now is the time for the law to be strengthened.’
The group filmed ten hunts in 2015-16 and claimed six broke the law. Two men were charged in the Jedforest hunt and are due to stand trial in Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, in January.
The Scottish Countryside Alliance said in its submission that traditional hunting using dogs should never have been banned.
It added: ‘The LCS recorded hundreds of hours of undercover footage of mounted hunts and none of this produced evidence that has led to a prosecution.
‘Even the heavily edited few minutes of “highlights” contain no evidence of anyone pursuing a fox with a pack of hounds.
‘If the evidence were as compelling as the LCS claim then Police Scotland would have taken action and prosecutions would have been brought.’