The new Hunting With Dogs Bill will have “unintended consequences” on legitimate and vital fox control, Perthshire farmers have said.
On Tuesday evening, MSPs voted by 90 votes to 30 in favour of the Hunting With Dogs Bill, which updates the 2002 Protection of Mammals Act.
The bill states clearly that the act of chasing and killing a mammal with a dog for sport has absolutely no place and will no longer be tolerated in Scotland.
The bill followed a review of the 2002 Act by Lord Bonomy who identified that there is “basis for suspecting” that illegal fox hunting is still taking place in Scotland and that nobody has ever been successfully prosecuted under existing rules.
Supporters of the legislation say that the recent vote clarifies language around what constitutes an offence and closes loopholes that have been taken advantage of in the past two decades.
Furthermore, parliament agreed on the opinion that there is a need for land managers to conduct reasonable predator control.
The bill allows for killing foxes as vermin control, but insists this must be done in a way that is efficient and humane.
Ian Duncan Millar MBE farms 320-acre Tirinie, four miles west of Aberfeldy, and also a hill farm with 650 ewes at Wester Tullich to the south of Loch Tay.
He was a founder member, and chairman for 12 years, of the influential Farmers’ Assurance group for cattle and sheep and most recently he was made the new RHASS president for the Royal Highland Show.
He said there have been “unintended consequences” in the Scottish Government’s bid to stop fox hunting, and hunting with dogs.
Mr Duncan Millar said: “One of these consequences is that the important service of predator control provided by the several foot packs in Scotland have been caught in the crossfire.
“So during the passage of the bill through parliament we have been working with government to create a licensing system within the legislation so that the foot packs can continue to serve members.
“That service is the provision of a specially trained pack of dogs, and their trainer, to find and flush out foxes from difficult, hilly, rough and forested terrain, to waiting guns who quickly and humanely despatch the predator.
“Farmers and land managers need this service for several reasons: the foremost will be to protect sheep and especially young lambs from predation. Such losses are difficult for the welfare of the sheep, and challenging for the mental and financial health of the shepherd who has looked after his sheep with care and attention.
“All farmers, in addition to making a meaningful contribution to the food production of Scotland, care about their land and wildlife, and there is a knock on benefit for biodiversity and the environment with additional protection for ground-nesting birds, of which many – like curlew, capercaillie, hen harrier, skylark, or lapwing – are on the red list of endangered species.
“While the supporters of the bill were driven by political ideology, we did eventually persuade the government of the need for predator control, from which the licence system evolved.
“NatureScot are the body charged with administering the licence and we are working with them to ensure the licence system can deliver for the needs of agriculture, the environment, and the bill without being too difficult and bureaucratic.
“As an industry farmers are disappointed that the government continues to discriminate against agriculture in favour of the environment. Despite the unquestionable fact that all food needs a farmer, the bill states that where a licence is required for agricultural purposes, then that licence will permit the foot pack to operate for up to 14 days in a six-month period yet where the use of dogs is required for an environmental purpose, in the example of controlling stoats in Orkney, or hedgehogs on the Western Isles, then the licence is available under the bill for two years.
“Where predators are controlled to protect sheep, then the wild life and biodiversity benefits too, but where the licence is for the environmental requirement there is seldom if ever a positive for the local farms.
“There are other unintended consequences in the bill, particularly for rough shooting and the control of rabbits, both being activities which, if carried out in the wrong way, could fall foul of the terms of this bill.
“The bill will become law later this year, so we must adapt and learn to live within its scope.”
Perthshire South and Kinross-shire SNP MSP Jim Fairlie has welcomed the decisive majority vote in favour of the bill.
Conservative politicians opted to vote against the bill, which Mr Fairlie has described as “immoral and deplorable.”
Mr Fairlie is a member of the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment committee.
He said: “While this might have been seen as a controversial bill, the reality is that the practical and pragmatic approach essential in delivering good law has been to the fore at all stages.
“I give great credit to my fellow committee members who have all been determined to see through the changes that are required, whilst accepting the need for proper predator control.
“As someone with over 30 years’ experience as a shepherd and sheep farmer I have absolute respect for Mr Fox, and know there is a need for farmers to stop these cunning predators.”
