Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002
Encyclopedia
The Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act was passed by the devolved Scottish parliament
in February 2002, making Scotland
the first part of the United Kingdom
to ban traditional fox hunting
and hare coursing
.
by Mike Watson
MSP with support from SNP MSP Tricia Marwick. In September 2001, the Scottish Parliament
rejected a negative committee report http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/historic/x-rural/reports-01/rar01-10-vol01-01.htm about the Bill from its Rural Development Committee and voted to support the general principles of the Bill.http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-01/sor0919-02.htm#Col2613 In February 2002 the Parliament voted by eighty three to thirty six to pass the legislation to ban hunting with dogs.http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-02/sor0213-02.htm#Col6513 MSP
s decided not to give compensation to those whose livelihoods or businesses might suffer as a result of the ban. The Act came into effect on August 1, 2002.
A number of convictions have taken place under the Act, two for people hunting foxes and ten for hare coursing
. The only prosecution of a traditional fox hunt led to a not guilty verdict, but to a clarification of the law, with the sheriff saying that the activity of flushing foxes to guns "will require to be accompanied by realistic and one would expect, effective arrangements for the shooting of pest species. The use of what might be termed "token guns" or what was described by the Crown as paying lip service to the legislation is not available ... as a justification for the continuation of what was referred to in the evidence before me as traditional foxhunting." http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/opinions/ADAMS.html
Two of the hunts have started training bloodhounds for drag hunting
rather than the traditional methods.
There is controversy over the impact on the number of foxes killed by hunts. Hunts say that the number killed by hunts has doubled because shooting is more effective than chasing with dogs. However, sceptics challenge this, pointing out that the nine surviving hunts have lost more than half of their income and membership.
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
in February 2002, making Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
the first part of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to ban traditional fox hunting
Fox hunting
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in its current...
and hare coursing
Hare coursing
Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent. It is a competitive sport, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the capture of game. It has a...
.
Passage of the Act
The Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Bill was introduced into the Scottish ParliamentScottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
by Mike Watson
Mike Watson
Michael Goodall Watson, Baron Watson of Invergowrie, known as Mike Watson, is a former British Labour Party politician...
MSP with support from SNP MSP Tricia Marwick. In September 2001, the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
rejected a negative committee report http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/historic/x-rural/reports-01/rar01-10-vol01-01.htm about the Bill from its Rural Development Committee and voted to support the general principles of the Bill.http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-01/sor0919-02.htm#Col2613 In February 2002 the Parliament voted by eighty three to thirty six to pass the legislation to ban hunting with dogs.http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-02/sor0213-02.htm#Col6513 MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
s decided not to give compensation to those whose livelihoods or businesses might suffer as a result of the ban. The Act came into effect on August 1, 2002.
Impact of the ban
An article in the Guardian on 9 September 2004 reports that of the ten Scottish hunts, nine survived the ban, using the permitted exemption allowing them to use packs of hounds to flush foxes to guns (an exemption which is strongly opposed by people against hunting).A number of convictions have taken place under the Act, two for people hunting foxes and ten for hare coursing
Hare coursing
Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent. It is a competitive sport, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the capture of game. It has a...
. The only prosecution of a traditional fox hunt led to a not guilty verdict, but to a clarification of the law, with the sheriff saying that the activity of flushing foxes to guns "will require to be accompanied by realistic and one would expect, effective arrangements for the shooting of pest species. The use of what might be termed "token guns" or what was described by the Crown as paying lip service to the legislation is not available ... as a justification for the continuation of what was referred to in the evidence before me as traditional foxhunting." http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/opinions/ADAMS.html
Two of the hunts have started training bloodhounds for drag hunting
Drag hunting
Drag hunting is a sport in which a group of dogs chase a scent that has been laid over a terrain before the hunt...
rather than the traditional methods.
There is controversy over the impact on the number of foxes killed by hunts. Hunts say that the number killed by hunts has doubled because shooting is more effective than chasing with dogs. However, sceptics challenge this, pointing out that the nine surviving hunts have lost more than half of their income and membership.
External links
- Full text of the Bill, Scottish Parliament http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/bills/billsPassed/b10s1en.pdf
- List of convictions under the Act http://www.league.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=1868#Prosecutions