Scottish Greens call for today’s boxing day hunts to be the last
The Scottish Greens have called for fox hunting to be banned, consigning boxing day hunts to history.
Despite a widely held belief that hunting was banned nearly twenty years ago in Scotland, loopholes in the law means it continues to take place regularly, and boxing day is the busiest day of the year for hunters.
Scottish Greens environment spokesperson Mark Ruskell MSP said:
“While the killing of foxes for sport using hunting dogs was meant to have been banned in 2002, the reality is that loopholes in the law mean that little has changed. Hunts still go out, pursuing and killing foxes, with hundreds of foxes still thought to be killed by hunting dogs.
“Even throughout the pandemic, while many of us have been restricted to our homes by unprecedented public health measures, hunts have continued.
“The fox is an iconic native species. It’s time we brought an end to the cruel practice of hunting by removing all the loopholes that were built into the current legislation, giving Scotland the outright ban on fox hunting that the public wants.
“Today’s boxing day hunts must be the last.”