Clashes over hunt ban bill

The bill would ban hunting with hounds

There have been angry clashes over a bill to ban fox hunting and hare coursing.

The Scottish Parliament's rural affairs committee was taking evidence on the first stage of the bill to outlaw them.

Celebrity chef Clarissa Dickson Wright has joined opponents of the bill in rejecting claims that the activities are cruel.

Labour MSP Mike Watson, who put the bill forward, has urged committee members to watch a video showing a hare being ripped apart by dogs.

Clarissa Dickson Wright (left) and the late Jennifer Paterson

The video footage, which was shot in Dumfriesshire, shows a screaming hare being ripped apart by dogs.

Mr Watson, who had wanted to show the footage to committee members, said it was "one of the most barbaric and foul" films he had ever seen.

Mr Watson said it "completely exposed" the written evidence from supporters of hare coursing like the Deerhound Coursing Club.

However, Ms Dickson Wright, who showed footage of dogs chasing hares on her television show Clarissa and the Countryman, said that there needed to be a national debate on the issue.

Debate call

She insisted that people who lived in towns had little understanding of life in the country.

She said: "He (Mr Watson) gave up a perfectly good bill on warrant sales to change to this.

"He comes from a rural constituency and he knew nothing about the impact of the horse economy of the Borders."

Members of the Deerhound Coursing Club maintain the hare "provides the hounds with some very testing work and usually escapes unharmed, if out of breath".

The club also maintained that hunting and coursing should be a matter of personal conscience not legislation.

Mike Watson brought forward the bill

Giving evidence to the committee, James Morris from the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said there was no doubt that foxes feel cruelty.

He said it was cruel to kill an animal for sport or entertainment especially if his death is prolonged.

However, he admitted that the rising population of foxes, now estimated at 23,000 in Scotland, needs to be controlled.

He said he favoured flushing to guns as the less cruel option.

John Gilmour, master of the Foxhounds Association, said there was no evidence whatever that fox hunting was cruel.

He said there was no reason to ban a pastime which had been going on for hundreds of years.