SCOTLAND'S fox hunting ban is working, but vigilance is still required to thwart “brazen attempts to exploit loopholes in the law,” according to a new monitoring report.
 

The Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 is the strongest anti-fox hunting law in Britain, but according to the League Against Cruel Sports’ latest monitoring report, challenges persist.
 

The league’s Scotland and Northern Ireland director Robbie Marsland said: “Our monitoring reports both signs of progress and brazen attempts to exploit loopholes in the law.  

“Ministers were clear that hunting with dogs has ‘no place in modern Scotland,’ that the licensing scheme would be ‘rigorous’ and that a license ‘should be the exception.’
 

“Instead, what we’ve seen is that the issuing of these supposedly exceptional permissions has become commonplace and routine, with over 60 licenses issued this past season.  
 

“More troubling still is that two hunt operators currently under Police Scotland investigation for illegal hunting were operating under these very licenses.
 

“This is not just bending the rules, it's a deliberate attempt to preserve a cruel practice.”
 

The report recommends that NatureScot accepts assistance from the league to bolster compliance monitoring, changes preventing licences being issued for the use of foxhounds, and — after uncovering evidence they were being used as a “smokescreen” for illegal hunts — ensures drag hunts are only conducted by accredited members of the Master of Blood and Drag Hounds Association.
 

Mr Marsland added: “One day we'll look back and see that this legislation worked, but we’re not there yet. The hunting industry isn’t done fighting, and as long as hunts keep trying to bend or break the law, we’ll be there to shine a light on it.”

The Scottish government was contacted for comment.