Hunting with dogs is, supposedly, banned in Scotland. Hunts, however, continue to sidestep the country’s 2023 legislation. The Labour government is considering new hunting legislation in England and Wales: it needs to take note of the loopholes that hunts are using to continue killing.
On 9 November 2024, Glasgow Hunt Saboteurs witnessed a fox kill by the Jed Forest Hunt, a farmers pack based in the Scottish Borders. The hunt frequently uses loopholes in the law to allow it to continue hunting.
The Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act banned trail hunting and using more than two dogs to flush foxes. It did not ban drag hunting though (where a human drags an artificially-scented material around a designated course which hounds then follow). Since the Act came into force, some hunts have been flouting the law by claiming that they are drag hunting, which is legal under the legislation.
Glasgow Hunt Sabs said:
“What started out today was an almost comical affair as the Jed Forest Hunt attempted to hunt a drag for the first hour of their meet. Hunt staff were proud to tell us they were ‘trail hunting’, except the practice has been banned in Scotland since October 2023.
The ‘drag hunt’ was a complete sham; hounds were taken in the wrong direction and taken through a pack of terrified sheep and then onto the line itself, in which none of the hounds showed any interest.”
Loopholes: flushing to guns and licencing more than two dogs
Other serious loopholes exist in the law, both of which appear to have been inserted by pro-hunt lobbyists as the then-Bill made its way through Holyrood: using two dogs to flush a fox to guns and licences to use more than two dogs to hunt.
Flushing a fox to waiting guns is legal under the Act for these purposes (and these purposes only):
(a) preventing serious damage to livestock, woodland or crops,
(b) preventing the spread of disease,
(c) protecting human health.
Claiming that a ‘disorientated’ fox is a threat to anything so must be shot is a travesty that is allowing hunts like the Jed Forest to get around the law.
Licencing to use more than two dogs. NatureScot says they can issue licences for using more than two dogs for (i) the management of wild mammals above ground; and (ii) environmental benefit. Licences have to specify the area to which they apply, set a minimum number of guns that are required and the maximum number of dogs that can be used.
- For a licence to protect livestock etc, the licensing authority (NatureScot) may only grant a licence if it is “satisfied that there is no other solution which would be effective in achieving the purpose” – eg. protecting livestock. Licences must specify the area to which they apply, set a minimum number of guns that are required and the maximum number of dogs that can be used. A licence can be granted for up to 14 days, to be used within a six-month period.
- or a licence for “environmental benefit” the licensing authority (NatureScot) must be satisfied that the use of more than two dogs “will contribute towards a significant or long-term environmental benefit” and “that there is no other solution which would be effective in achieving the purpose” – eg. preserving, protecting or restoring a particular species etc.
Again, how could the Jed Forest possibly justify taking a pack out for these reasons?
Hunts exploiting the loopholes
Both the flushing loophole and the licencing loophole are routinely being exploited by hunts in Scotland.
Hunt saboteurs have repeatedly written about the hunt’s blatant breaking of the law since Scotland’s hunting ban came in. The Jed Forest Hunt says it is drag hunting, or using two dogs to flush a fox to be shot, to carry on with its bloody kills.
In August 2024, the Daily Record reported that NatureScot had issued over 40 licences under the new law between November 2023 and April 2024. In 31 of these licences, the use of more than 20 dogs was permitted.
The sabs have often stated that hunts have met planning to use a full pack of hounds, but seeing the sabs have put the pack away and used only two dogs as per the Act.
The sabs described the actions of the Jed Forest in the run-up to the 9 November shooting, saying:
“The bulk of the pack was then put away and the hunt headed back up the hill and then, within minutes, were surrounding a very small patch of gorse that they’d usually ignore. The two allocated hounds started to speak, which is quite rare as they are usually uninterested and then a particularly disorientated fox scrambled from the gorse into a waiting gun. What an absolute waste of a life. Unbelievably, this is still considered legal in Scotland.”
The sabs continued:
“Hunt staff let the hounds bite at the body of the fox before stuffing it into one of their illegal quads. One of our sabs was then targeted by huntsman Matthew Wilkinson, who tried to run the sab down with his horse. Our sab dived out of the way to safety. A collision could have led to a very serious incident.
Following this, Matthew started throwing ludicrous accusations our way, such as blocking shooters doing their work. Remember, we film every single part of our day and your claims won’t stand up.”
Prosecution
Although the Jed Forest Hunt acts like it is untouchable, in April 2024 (a full six months before this latest incident), huntsman Wilkinson was the first person to be charged in Scotland under the new hunting law. On 12 April, The Ferret reported that the League Against Cruel Sports had covertly filmed Scottish hunts over six months, and had handed over footage of six incidents to the police. The arrest then followed.
It remains to be seen whether the Scottish criminal justice system will take more meaningful action against hunts such as the Jed Forest, though, and whether the legislation will finally be allowed to do what was intended by lawmakers in Scotland’s parliament: stopping hunts killing wildlife.
