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Kathleen Nutt

Political Correspondent

GREEN MSPs are set to oppose a key plank of the Scottish Government's fox hunting bill arguing it falls well short of a full ban.

The new legislation proposes that in general in Scotland no more than two dogs should be used in mounted horse hunts or others using quad bikes to chase and flush a wild mammal from cover before it is shot dead.

However, it lists a range of exceptions, proposing the introduction of a licensing scheme which would allow more than two dogs to be used in certain conditions. The maximum number of dogs is not given.

Under the new system farmers and landowners could obtain a hunting licence for more than two dogs if they can demonstrate it is for "predator control" or other environmental reasons and if they have no alternative ways of stopping foxes from harming their livestock.

The permits would be issued and administered without any cost to the applicant by the Scottish Government's environment agency NatureScot.

Licences designed for predator control would be valid for 14 days and those for environmental purposes valid for up to two years.

Ariane Burgess, the Scottish Greens MSP, spoke out after Holyrood's rural affairs, islands and natural environment published its initial report last week into the Scottish Government's Hunting with Dogs Bill.

While Ms Burgess, who is a member of Holyrood's rural affairs committee, supports the need for a new law she fears the creation of a licensing system would see fox hunting continuing.

"I will be calling for a complete ban. I don't think there should be a licensing system. It opens up potential for continued loopholes," Ms Burgess told The Herald on Sunday.

"There will definitely be an amendment which says 'no licensing'".

The Hunting With Dogs Bill was brought in by the government in February to close legal loopholes following warnings by the police and animal welfare organisations over concerns over the illegal hunting of foxes and other wild mammals such as hares.

The SNP's bill seeks to replace the Protection of Wild Mammals Act 2002 (which made it an offence to hunt a wild mammal using a dog in Scotland except in limited specified circumstances) and which ministers believe needs to be tightened to make it easier for culprits to be prosecuted.

In their report, members of Holyrood's rural affairs committee supported overhauling the 2002 Act.

However, committee members disagreed on a number of areas in the bill with some believing the legislation does not go far enough in banning fox hunting and others believing it introduces unnecessary restrictions onto country life.

The committee called for the Scottish Government to provide clarification on several aspects including on the licensing scheme.

They also asked for clarity on the impact of including rabbits in the wild mammal definition, and how a two-dog limit for searching, stalking or flushing mammals from cover above ground, would work in practice.

MSPs are expected to back the general principles of the bill when they vote on it in the Holyrood chamber at the end of next month.

Its details will be examined in mid November by the committee with amendments put down at this stage of its parliamentary journey.

Ms Burgess said she will be appealing to environment minister Mairi McAllan to drop the licensing system ahead of the second stage vote.

She added if her representations to the minister were not successful, she would then lodge her amendments to be voted on by the committee.

"We will be appealing to the Scottish Government on this. There are so many people who don't want fox hunting to continue in Scotland," she said.

"I will be saying we need to consider the licensing scheme and there should be no loopholes which allow fox hunting to continue. That's what the Scottish people are asking for. People are shocked that it still carries on twenty years after the act."

Fox hunting is an area which is excluded from the Bute House Agreement signed between the SNP and the Scottish Greens in August 2021.

It means the two parties can publicly disagree on the policy without endangering their commitment to work together in parliament on other areas such as education and health policy and on the case for independence.

Conservative MSP Finlay Carson, who is the convener of the rural affairs committee, told The Herald on Sunday the committee had asked for clarifications from ministers over the licensing scheme after hearing both from groups opposed to such a measure and organisations who "would wish to continue pest control" using more than two dogs.

"The licensing issue needs to explored as there may be situations where 10,15 or 20 dogs may be considered by NatureScot as the most appropriate number of dogs to flush a wild mammal to avoid the animal welfare issues that this bill is supposed to address," he said.

Asked if he thought there could be more widespread hunting as a result of the licensing system, he said: "This is a personal opinion but I don't believe this bill will do anything other than ensure that where required a licence will only be issued where the highest animal welfare concerns are observed.

"We are not going to see an increase in the number of hunts because this law is being brought in to address the minority of hunts there have been issues with."

He said the committee were assured by the Scottish Government and NatureScot that sufficient resources would be available to administer the licensing scheme.

Concerns over how well the 2002 law was working was raised in Holyrood by Alison Johnstone in 2017 when she was a Green MSP following a review of the legislation by Lord Bonomy the previous year.

Lord Bonomy suggested around 800 foxes are killed by hunts every year in Scotland, with one in five foxes killed by packs of hounds, in breach of the Protection of Wild Mammals Act.

His review concluded that there are still "aspects and features of the [fox hunting] legislation which complicate unduly the detection, investigation and prosecution of alleged offences".

Lord Bonomy recommended introducing independent monitors to police hunts, while suggesting that landowners should be held legally responsible for hunts that take place on their property.

Ms Johnstone said at the time: “In 2002 the Wild Mammals Act aimed to ban foxhunting but has clearly failed. The practice of ‘flushing’ foxes with packs of dogs to waiting guns is in many cases hunting with dogs under another name. Polling shows most Scots are in favour of a full ban, and I will bring forward a member's bill to deliver one."

Ms Johnstone took up the politically neutral role of Presiding Officer after the Holyrood election last year and this February ministers introduced the new bill.

In England and Wales, a maximum of two dogs can be used and no licensing system is in place for more hounds to be used in various situations.

Jake Swindells, Director of the Scottish Countryside Alliance said: “All the evidence from the government’s own review and peer reviewed research makes clear that removing the ability of packs of dogs in pest control will have a catastrophic impact on the livelihoods of farmers across Scotland.

"This reckless proposal is fuelled by prejudice and has nothing to do with animal welfare or sustaining rural communities.”