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One of Scotland’s oldest fox-hunting clubs will be closing down after a new bill has been passed into law that bans hunting and killing mammals using packs of hounds. Honestly, we can’t think that it has taken so long to end this practice.

The Hunting with Dogs bill, which went into effect earlier this week after being passed in January, outlaws hunting and killing wild mammals using packs of dogs.

The original legislation allowed dogs to flush foxes out from cover as long as they were then shot, and that the hunt was being held to protect livestock, ground-nesting birds or prevent the spread of disease.

The Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Hunt first met in the 1700s and since then it has remained a controversial subject in the United Kingdom. Hunting has been a long tradition on the island and many are sad to see the tradition gone. Animal rights activist groups have obviously welcomed the new law.

Supporters of fox hunting regard it as a distinctive part of British culture and social class. The argument was that while more “working class” blood sports such as cock fighting and badger baiting were long ago outlawed, foxhunting remained accesible for the ‘upper class’.

Fox hunting is a ‘sport’ involving the tracking, chasing, and killing of foxes, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. Originating in England in the sixteenth century, it continues to be legal in Northern Ireland and several other countries, including Australia, Canada, France, the Republic of Ireland, and the US. In England, it has been banned since 2015.

“It is a labour of love with long hours and for little pay. We do it because it is our heritage and we do it for the love of the countryside and for our love of the hounds.”

The Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Hunting group will continue to operate as a hunt club – holding point-to-point horse races and other social events.

[source:bbc&cnn]