The League Against Cruel Sports and Wild Justice have lodged a petition for judicial review, in the Court of Session, Edinburgh, over NatureScot’s licensing of hunts using packs of dogs.
The two organisations have brought the action because they believe NatureScot’s approach to issuing licences is unlawful and doesn’t reflect the requirements of the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023.
The Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 replaced the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002, after a review found weaknesses that had allowed illegal hunting to continue. When it passed, the minister responsible for the Bill, Màiri McAllan, told MSPs it was designed to “close loopholes in previous legislation and… prevent other loopholes from opening”.
The Act limits the number of dogs used to flush foxes to two but it allows more under licence, for either the management of wild mammals above ground, or for environmental benefit. These licences can only be granted if there is a strong justification, such as foxes being likely to cause serious damage to livestock, and if no other solution (such as constructing fencing) would be effective. During the Bill’s passage, the minister told Parliament that a licence would only be “available in exceptional circumstances”.
LACS submitted a freedom of information request to NatureScot asking for details about applications and licences the public body had granted for using more than two dogs to flush foxes. This information was provided by NatureScot in May 2026.
After reviewing this information, LACS believes some licences are being wrongly granted. Last season NatureScot granted 52 of 58 applications and they attended just one licensed outing for monitoring purposes.
Robbie Marsland, Director of the League Against Cruel Sports Scotland, said:
“The Government told Parliament these licences would be the rare exception, but three years on, we are back where we started with packs of foxhounds marauding the countryside with hardly anyone checking what happens next.
“We didn’t want to end up in court but we’ve spent two years raising concerns with NatureScot about this. We offered our own investigators to help with monitoring and asked for the information that would let us do it, but NatureScot said no to both.
“Scottish Government ministers were very keen to take the credit for closing the loophole, but they’ve left the job of policing it to NatureScot, which attended just one licensed hunt all last season. The law already says the scheme needs to be properly reviewed, and they could start that review tomorrow if they wanted to.”
In a petition for judicial review, now raised in the Court of Session in Edinburgh, LACS along with Wild Justice argue that licences are being granted in situations where the threat of foxes to livestock is not serious enough to warrant an exception, and that while on occasion there may be sufficient evidence, this is not consistently the case. They say NatureScot grants licences without proper evidence that foxes would cause serious damage and accepts claims that alternatives such as shooting are too expensive, when the correct test is whether alternatives are effective.
They also challenge its licensing of foxhounds, a breed that has been bred and trained to chase and kill foxes. The campaigners want a ruling before the next round of applications, which is expected to begin shortly.
The challenge comes as huntswoman Claire Bellamy was sentenced to 300 hours of unpaid work, in lieu of a custodial sentence, at Paisley Sheriff Court today for illegally hunting a fox. She was also disqualified from owning any dog for ten years, other than her current six colies and one terrier. At the time of the offence, her hunt held a NatureScot licence to flush foxes to guns using more than two dogs. Addressing Bellamy, Sheriff Gill, commented that the actions of Bellamy were “cruel, inhumane and selfish”.During the trial, Ms Bellamy and the landowner both said that once foxhounds had the scent of a fox, it was impossible to call them back.
Dr Ruth Tingay, co-director of Wild Justice, said:
“Licences that permit the killing of wildlife must be robust, evidence-based and subject to effective monitoring. They are not a formality or a blank cheque: they provide an exceptional permission to undertake activities that would otherwise be unlawful and must therefore be subject to the highest standards of scrutiny and accountability.
“NatureScot has a responsibility to ensure that any licences it issues are justified, that their conditions are clear and enforceable, and that compliance is properly monitored. Without robust oversight, there can be no meaningful assurance that wildlife is being protected and that licensing decisions are being applied as intended.
“This legal challenge is about ensuring that the licensing system operates lawfully, transparently and in a way that safeguards wildlife”.
Leigh Day solicitor Carol Day, who represents LACS and Wild Justice, said:
“Our clients believe NatureScot is handling the licensing process for fox flushing in a manner which is unlawful. The Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 only permits the grant of licences to use more than two dogs for fox flushing in specific circumstances – including serious damage to livestock – and where no effective alternatives exist. Our clients argue that NatureScot has failed to adopt a consistent approach to the evidence. Their legal claim calls for full compliance with the 2023 Act in the forthcoming season.”
ENDS