‘The anti-hunting lobby is motivated by prejudice not animal welfare. They just can’t stand the sight of a huntsman in a red coat’

When the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act was passed in 2002 all reasonable people considered that the political debate over hunting had been settled. The Act banned ‘traditional’ hunting with dogs, but allowed most other forms of fox control to continue. The hunting community was not happy with the unjustified restrictions, but adapted to ensure the use of firearms to dispatch the wild mammal, flushed by dogs, in accordance with the law whether operating on horseback, quad bike or on foot. For better or worse the fox hunting debate had been resolved and for over a decade barely anything was heard on the subject. As Lord Bonomy noted the operation of the Act has never been raised as a topic in the Plenary Group of the Partnership Against Wildlife Crime Scotland, consisting of Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, animal welfare charities, land management organisations and government agencies. In 2015, however, following a debate over hunting legislation in England and Wales animal rights groups suddenly decided that there was an issue with the legislation which they had forgotten to mention for the previous 11 plus years. Using the leverage of online activism they persuaded the Scottish National Party to reopen the long settled debate over hunting legislation and commission an independent review under Lord Bonomy. . http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/16222190.__39_The_anti-hunting_lobby_is_motivated_by_prejudice_not_animal_welfare__They_just_can__39_t_stand_the_sight_of_a_huntsman_in_a_red_coat__39_/?ref=rss