The Scottish government officially banned fox-hunting with dogs in 2002, followed by the Hunting Ban in England and Wales two years later. Despite this, hunting parties set out to kill foxes on the Boxing Day, claiming this is done to control pest populations.
"The bloodsport lobby claim that they want the hunting ban repealed on the basis of animal welfare grounds, however what we have seen this year and in previous years is that they hold no regard for animal welfare," Eduardo Goncalves of the League Against Cruel Sports said.
"With every blow of the horn announcing another hunted fox on Scottish soil, the credibility of the Parliament is undermined," OneKind Scotland wrote last Sunday.
August’s Ipsos MORI poll of almost 2,000 British adults showed 84 percent wanted the ban on fox hunting to be upheld despite calls to drop it. The League estimates over 200,000 illegal hunting incidents involving dogs have taken place since 2004, averaging 16,000 a year.
