SCOTTISH COUNTRY LIFE Not affected by the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill?

By Jake Swindells, Director for Scotland, Scottish Countryside Alliance

In late 2021, The Scottish Government delivered on its promise to overhaul hunting with dogs, launching a bill and a public consultation to call for views. In some cases, this went under the radar, but it was soon realised that this bill will have many unintended consequences on our rural sector. The tightening of legislation is, though it is denied in Holyrood, aimed at traditional mounted hunting but it has far-reaching effects on both farming and conservation. The SNP are enforcing a limit of 2 dogs to search for and flush a mammal, but a licence system will be available to those who need to use a pack of dogs in areas such as forestry or open hill. Minister Mairi McAllan, however, has repeatedly stated that a licence will be an exception to the exception. In other words, you will have to jump through hoops to get one and, by the sound of it, the SNP seem as if they want very few of them issued.

Having failed to publish the detail of the initial consultation response in full, The Scottish Government are asking rural communities and MSP’s to support a bill that has little detail or clarification. As it stands, it is severely damaging to our community and everything we have worked towards. They somehow fail to understand that restricting effective practices in predator control will automatically contribute to the growth of the Fox population. The obvious knock-on effects being an increase in livestock loss as well as potentially irreversible conservational damage. The

Scottish Government has spent millions of pounds on conservation projects and now plan to waste every penny spent by allowing predator populations to explode owing to pressure from animal rights groups. With predator populations at their current level, we are expected to lose the iconic Capercaillie within the next 30 years and this legislation could well hasten their fate.

Livestock on lowland farms, crofts and on the hill will suffer badly. Without ready access to a licence to allow the use of more than 2 dogs, the ability to control predator numbers will diminish. In England, the practice of hunting with a pack ceased to exist and trail hunting became more popular as a result. In Scotland, a pre-emptive strike has been initiated to ban trail hunting, an activity that isn’t widely practiced north of the border. This is an obvious attack on traditional hunting, yet the SNP continue to look us in the eye and say that it is not. Legislating against a single form of wildlife management with a poorly understood and pre-conceived idea of how predator management takes place as a basis is very shortsighted and shows a level of ignorance that is often hard to believe. It matters not how a pack of dogs is followed, whether on foot, quad or horseback. What matters is how the professional handlers and practitioners operate at the sharp end. Sadly, this is lost on the majority of MSP’s.

Terrier work is also in the spotlight, with further restrictions, or even the possibility of a ban of any work below ground being considered. How will this improve animal welfare when a Vixen fox is shot, and dependant cubs are left below ground?

Rabbits are to be included in the bill and defined as a wild mammal. If this passes unchanged, then the controlling of rabbits with dogs will all but end having additional, devastating consequences for farmers. Pest controllers will no longer be able to use dogs when netting or using ferrets either. Rough shoots will end, as using more than 2 dogs in a beating line will likely be unlawful, as they will be considered a pack. In fact, if your dog flushes a rabbit and it is shot by your neighbouring walking gun you will be breaking the law. You could get a licence, but remember, a licence is the exception to the exception.

The bill is now in stage 2 of 3 stages and is due to conclude in early 2023. The Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment (RAINE) Committee is overseeing the progress of the bill and have held a number of evidence sessions. They have heard from numerous stakeholders and the Scottish Countryside Alliance has given evidence in Parliament twice. Amendments have been tabled by MSPs and these will be discussed and voted on in the coming weeks. It has never been more important to lobby your MSP and to advise them on how they should be voting on these suggested amendments. Labour and The Greens will have their say so it is vital that our side is represented, and we are running out of time. If you would like further information, please visit the SCA website and sign up to our Heather Routes newsletter or get in touch via jake-swindells@ countryside-alliance.org

Hunched over, her favourite oldschool folding wooden ruler in hand, head tucked deeply into a midge net, Mar Lodge ecologist Dr Shaila Rao records the height of trees, which shoots have been browsed, and how many there are. She works and talks without stopping, measuring hundreds of seedlings in a sitting, barely pausing to catch a breath. She knows the trees well by now; she has measured some of them for seventeen years, and recognises them from year to year.

I’m on the computer, an old, beaten-up Toughbook, inputting the data, happy that the breeze is keeping away the worst of the midges, only slightly put out by the drizzle. A couple of days ago, the corpses of thousands of midges mixed with the rain, creating a soapy