In March, Mike Watson MSP's Protection of Wild Mammals Bill was finally introduced to the Scottish Parliament. After several attempts by the Countryside alliance to sabotage it, the courts have now rejected their time-wasting appeals.
The bill can now pass through the various stages in Parliament, and be debated democratically, free from any further delaying tactics, before becoming law.
A ban on hunting with hounds will end the cruelty of mounted hunting of foxes and other mammals, harecoursing and underground terrier work. Mike Watson was quoted recently as saying that he thought it a reasonable prospect that the bill would be passed in law by the Autumn.However it is still important that people write to their MSPs to ask them to support this bill.
It is also worth noting that, contrary to claims by the Countryside Alliance, a recently published research paper on the economic impact of a ban on foxhunting with dogs in Scotland concluded that any such ban would be unlikely to have any significant negative effect on rural employment in Scotland. More information can be obtained from The Scottish Campaign Against Hunting with Dogs (see Contacts section).