Good morning. Thank you, convener, for the opportunity to respond on amendment 1.
The Scottish Government has made it clear that the legislation that was introduced in 2002 to protect foxes from unnecessary hunting has not had the desired effect. We have therefore committed to acting on many of the recommendations in Lord Bonomy’s review to clarify and strengthen the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002.
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Although I understand why John Finnie might wish to try to advance the agenda of protecting foxes through this bill, there are a number of issues with amendment 1. Currently, it is an offence for a dog to be at large—not on a lead or otherwise under close control—in a field or enclosure in which there are sheep. One exception to that is when the owner of the dog is there with the permission of the owner of the sheep. There is another exemption for police dogs, guide dogs, trained sheep dogs, working gun dogs or a dog lawfully used to hunt.
The last part of the definition could include situations in which a dog is being used to control rats or rabbits at the request of a neighbouring farmer or landowner, as well as dogs being used to support people on foot who are carrying out legitimate fox control. It would seem completely disproportionate to make it an offence, in those situations, to do something that does not actually cause harm to livestock and that may be incidental to a perfectly legitimate use of a dog.
The bill will extend the exemption to include other assistance dogs while adding the condition for all types of dogs that the exemption will apply only if, and to the extent that, the dog is
“performing the role in question”.
Amendment 1 would, unhelpfully, remove that added condition for all types of dogs, including police dogs and trained sheep dogs.
Regarding the issue of fox control, we are strongly committed to safeguarding animal welfare, including that of wild animals—notably, foxes. It is disappointing that, owing to the need to prioritise our response to the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19, we have not been able to introduce a bill on fox control in the timetable that was originally planned. It is because of the practical implications of our response to Covid, which has been necessary to save lives, that the Parliament has been physically unable to operate as planned.
We remain absolutely committed to introducing legislation on fox control, and we intend to do it during the next Parliament if we are re-elected to Government. The bill that we are debating today is not the place to attempt to introduce new controls on hunting with dogs. I acknowledge the intent behind Mr Finnie’s amendment, but it is neither needed here nor helpful, as it could affect a wide range of legitimate work that is carried out by dogs. I am sure that that is not the intention, and I hope that Mr Finnie will withdraw amendment 1 accordingly. Should he not withdraw amendment 1, I hope that the committee will not support it.