Same old same old

Before the fox hunting ban was strengthened in 2023, mounted hunts regularly exploited a loop-hole that enabled them to encourage a pack of hounds to chase and kill foxes across the Scottish countryside. Two years later the use of the same loophole was licensed by NatureScot (NS) on around a hundred occasions.

As we approach the beginning of the third “fox hunting season” since the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act (2023), NS have published a Review of the scheme that licenses the use of more than two dogs to flush foxes to be shot by waiting guns.

Abuse of flushing to guns led to the law being strengthened. We were told by the Government that such licenses would be “exceptional” and only issued where there was evidence that foxes represented a “serious” threat to livestock, and every other method of preventing this threat had been tried and the use of a pack of dogs was the only successful method available.

An Environmental Information Request to NS has revealed the first two licenses issued for the period 1 November 2025 to 1 May 2026.

The successful license applications reveal that NS satisfy themselves that the “exceptional circumstance” of there being a serious threat to livestock and that all alternatives to the use of a pack of hounds have been tried - by simply accepting the applicant’s word. There is no acknowledgment that there are groups of people who live and breathe to encourage packs of dogs to chase and kill foxes as a form of entertainment. There is an apparent wilful and naive belief that no applicant would misrepresent themselves on the application form. No on-site checks are made to confirm what is stated on the application forms.

Furthermore, the few on-site compliance monitoring are all notified in advance - giving anyone planning skullduggery notice to behave on that day.

And it is clear that NS don’t want any help from the League Against Cruel Sports. An offer of seconding experienced investigators has been declined, as was a GDPR compliant application to confidentiality share the dates and locations of licenses issued. NS say that this data is kept secret for the safety of those controlling the dogs. The League Against Cruel Sports investigators film hunt activities from afar.

But why do NS believe that killing foxes protect livestock at all? Research (referred to in the NS Review) going back as far as the 1980s is quite clear. There are more foxes in Scotland than available fox territories. This means that if a fox is killed, it will be replaced by another fox in a matter of days. In fact, it’s not uncommon for fox numbers to increase for a time as competing foxes fight for the vacant territory.

Another curiosity is that NS states that no licenses will be issued in the “autumn months” as cubs and juveniles are likely to be caught and killed by the dogs when they are supposed to be flushing foxes to waiting guns. But there is no explanation why this doesn’t apply to mature foxes. The use of foxhounds, bred and trained to hunt and kill foxes, would seem to make this inevitable no matter the time of year or the age of a fox.

The licenses that have already been issued are from 1 November to 1 May. NS seems to believe they will protect new born lambs from “serious” threats despite the low numbers of foxes killed under license and the replacement of those foxes by other foxes seeking a territory.

The League Against Cruel Sports is deeply concerned that mounted hunts are accessing these licenses so they can once again have a smokescreen to obscure packs of hounds being encouraged to hunt and kill foxes. They did it before 2023 - that’s why the law was strengthened- and there’s no reason to believe that their determination to hunt and kill foxes with a pack of hounds has diminished in any way.

Attachments:

NS Review

FOI successful applications