omegathelast

It is not business as usual, not even close. Lurcher work is finished in Scotland. It’s now illegal to hunt and/or catch a rabbit with a dog.

The Bill has been passed. Rabbiting is now illegal in Scotland.

It is correct and something I have been posting on here for some time. The Act will also include enhanced stop and search powers and deprivation orders banning offenders from keeping dogs. The SNP promised the ‘Greens’ they would look at hunting based on their coalition agreement which is actually all about Sturgeons independence dream. Sadly, the fieldsports community in Scotland have done very little to rebut this, presumably hoping it will go away. Well it hasn’t. The whole thing is flawed but it’s been allowed to get to this stage which is now probably too late. Sad.

You can access the link to the e-lobby on the CA update at beginning of this thread. Just click on the e-lobby words. I still think urgent direct liaison with your MSP through letter or face to face is far better as the e-lobby is more to do with fox control and the licensing system. Do both! The CA and others are suggesting to the Scottish Government that the way to exclude rabbits from an effective total ban is for land owner permission to be required. That is exactly the same situation as in the rest of the UK.

There are no 'new hunting laws' only stiffer penalties for Hare Coursing/Poaching and it being much easier to now prosecute those allegedly involved. There are supposed to be safeguards embedded in the legislation for legitimate hunting on permission but I don't know what they are. Obviously in Scotland there is a draft Bill progressing that will effectively outlaw ALL hunting with dogs except ratting and, at present, some limited terrier work but even that now looks at risk. All Lurcher work will be finished next year if the Bill is not amended.

Lovely dog and pictures. I just hope she can continue doing what she is bred for and that the emerging SNP/Greens proposed ban on hunting rabbits fails. Hopefully the Scottish lurcher community with rally and do whatever it takes to persuade their SNPs to press for amendments to the Bill which is now at a critical stage. As it stands taking rabbits with dogs will be illegal sometime in the New Year unless amendments are made.

The best thing anyone can do in Scotland is to urgently write to their MSP and urge them, at least, to press for rabbits to be removed from the definition of mammals in the emerging Bill. Explain how responsible humane lurcher work, works (ferreting etc) and why that part of your rural heritage and liberty to harvest natural food in this sustainable way should continue. Explain that there are more sensible ways to stop illegal hare poaching - as that is the main reason cited by the Scottish Government for including rabbits in the ban. Some of the politicians in Holyrood are clearly be

An update on the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill WWW.COUNTRYSIDE-ALLIANCE.ORG Director of the Scottish Countryside Alliance, Jake Swindells, provides an update on...

https://www.countryside-alliance.org/News/2022/9/An-update-on-the-Hunting-with-Dogs-Scotland-Bill

This is exactly it. The only hope North of the Border now is that the Scottish field sports community come together to lobby their respective MSP’s like crazy. As it stands, alongside hound work with more than two dogs and bizarrely trail hunting, all lurcher work and rabbiting will be illegal. Whilst the Raine Committee have asked for clarification on the justification for adding rabbits to the ban, it’s was more to do with issues raised by BASC in the committee stage. Nobody defended lurcher work in the various sessions AND, sadly, the non-shooting fieldsports community have been generally v

Great to see. I just hope you guys north of the border can persuade your MSP’s to ditch, or at least alter, the Scottish Government backed draft legislation that is currently going through your Parliament which would finish ALL that is left of traditional lurcher work in Scotland by defining Rabbits as mammals for the purposes of the Act and therefore it would be an offence to catch or even attempt to catch (hunt) them with a dog. The flushing exemption does not help you. Otherwise posts like yours will sadly soon be a thing of the past. Good Luck.

But I don’t think it will if the intent or consequence is for the dog to catch the rabbit in any circumstance. As drafted lurcher work is effectively finished in Scotland. Only rats and mice are exempt. There has been pressure from political lobbyists (Rabbits Have Rights is one) close to the Greens etc to end ‘rabbit coursing’ which of course we all know is a nonsense and that there is no such thing. The Scottish fieldsports/lurcher community are surprisingly apathetic and are doing almost nothing to counter the misinformation and/or defend this traditional form of pest cont

Exactly..

I understand what you are thinking but why keep your head down? You are defending something that is perfectly legal and entirely justifiable at present and, frankly, something that doesn’t bother most ordinary people in society. This has all come as a result of the deal Sturgeon did with the Greens to support her independence dream. It will be nothing short of a disaster for anyone who wants to work a lurcher in Scotland if the Act is passed and a sad day.

Having looked at this again, this can’t be right; it will definitely be unlawful to hunt rabbits with a dog. So catching rabbits with a lurcher, whippet or terrier will be illegal in Scotland. I’m absolutely astounded how little reaction to this proposed measure there is, even in publications like CM and zero commentary from the CA etc. Perhaps worse the Scottish lurcher community seem content to just sit back and see there way of life taken away in a matter of months by a few misinformed and prejudiced politicians being pressured by highly motivated animal rights groups. Crazy.