CURRENT laws banning fox hunting north of the Border are unworkable, open to exploitation and should be amended, according to police

Senior Police Scotland officers believe there is confusion about how the law can be followed and that it is open to exploitation by those who wish to avoid prosecution.

Fox hunting has been banned since the introduction of the Protection Of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act, which was brought in by the Scottish Government in 2002.

However, there are not thought to have been any successful fox hunting prosecutions since the ban was introduced.

The force raised its concerns in a submission to the review of Scotland’s hunting laws by Lord Bonomy, saying the act lacks clarity and personal accountability.

Its submission was one of hundreds of responses to the review published by the Scottish Government.

The force said terminology such as “stalking”, “searching” or “flushing” were included in the legislation without being defined, resulting in “a certain degree, a level of confusion which can deflect from the original intention (or spirit) of the legislation”.

It added: “To make this legislation more effective and workable, offences need to be simplified and terms expanded.

“Exceptions to the offence to ‘deliberately hunt a wild animal with a dog’ are multiple and provide opportunities for exploitation by those who continually and deliberately offend.

“As a consequence of this lack of clarity, the police are on occasion unable to establish the high threshold of evidence required to prove and, ultimately, report cases.”

Hunts are still allowed to use dogs to flush out foxes and chase them, but foxes should be shot, not killed by hounds.

Police said there are occasions where it is “extremely difficult to have guns in place as soon as a fox is located”.

It said the “current lack of clarity in the legislation can lead to allegations by those opposed to this form of pest control that ‘guns were not in place’ and this presents significant issues for those undertaking a lawful act, as well as those investigating alleged illegal activity”.

The submission added: “If the legislation necessitated the nomination of certain individuals with strict liability for particular actions on the day and created an absolute offence to ‘hunt a wild mammal with a dog’, with the burden of proof on the suspect to show that person was acting in accordance with one of the current exemptions, this would undoubtedly strengthen the legislation.”

Welcoming the submission, Robbie Marsland, director of the League Against Cruel Sports in Scotland, said: “We agree with Police Scotland the law as it stands is ‘unworkable’, we know this from our two-year investigation into the activities of Scottish fox hunts.”

He added it was now time for the law to be toughened, with most people wanting fox hunting banned.