ALISON Johnstone’s proposed crackdown on fox-hunting and hare killing has had an overwhelming response to its consultation, the Green MSP has revealed.
The consultation on Alison Johnstone’s proposed Fox and Hare Bill was only launched on June 24, yet has already become one of the Scottish Parliament’s most engaged with members’ consultations to date.
The consultation can be accessed via the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Greens websites, and will run to September 15.
The proposals would close the legal “loopholes” which allow unlimited numbers of native mountain hares and brown hares to be killed at certain times of the year, and have failed to prevent fox-hunting.
READ MORE: SNP and Greens slam Jeremy Hunt for U-turn on fox hunting ban
Since its launch less than a month ago, the bill has received more than 1100 responses already – more responses than most member’s bill consultations receive in their entire three-month period.
It is already anticipated to become one of the most engaged-with members’ bills in the history of the Scottish Parliament. The draft bill was drawn up after footage was released showing mass culls of mountain hares on grouse moors in the Cairngorms.
The Scottish Greens claim 25,000 hares were killed in one year, which is up to 14% of the hare population. Alison Johnstone said: “I’m delighted at the response so far to these proposals, which will help produce a bill that all parties can back.
“The overwhelming majority of responses so far are supportive, and this engagement shows without a doubt how important this issue is for Scots.
READ MORE: Fox hunting: Greens aim to rewrite law as case is dropped
“Many people have said to me that they thought fox-hunting was already banned in Scotland, but legal loopholes mean there are still ten hunts operating across the country. I intend to close these loopholes for good.
“The routine killing of mountain and brown hares is a problem that needs to be urgently tackled too.”
In Scotland, the use of packs of dogs to hunt down and catch foxes is banned, however it is still permitted to use dogs to flush foxes into the open making it harder to police the ban. The Green Party estimate that around 800 foxes are killed by hunts every year, with one-in-five foxes killed by packs of hounds.
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