Hunters angry over Scottish ban

EDINBURGH, Scotland -- Fox hunters have been protesting against a decision by Scotland's parliament to ban their sport, which they say will cause unemployment.

About 40 members of the Duke of Buccleuch Hunt gathered at St. Boswells, in the Scottish borders, for one of several hunts scheduled on Thursday.

Some hunt supporters came from as far away as eastern England to show solidarity for their endangered sportsmen, The Associated Press reported.

The Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Bill, outlawing the use of hounds in hunting, was approved by Scottish lawmakers on a vote of 83 to 36 after a six-hour debate on Wednesday and will become law when Queen Elizabeth II approves it in about a month.

Hunters who disregard the ban after implementation can expect heavy fines or a six-month prison term.

"I'll carry on hunting until someone physically tries to stop me," Scottish hunter Ian Stark told AP.

The hunters were allowed to use the land of farmer Bryan Wallings, who said fox hunting amounted to free pest control.

"Without them to kill the foxes, if I put two lambs out with an ewe one would be gone in the morning," he told AP.

Supporters of the sport say the legislation threatens countryside lifestyles and jobs in rural Scotland.

Phillip Fergus, a huntsman who runs a kennel breeding hunting dogs in Earlston in the Scottish Borders, said he would be left jobless and homeless by the legislation.

"If the bill becomes law, my job will disappear. I'll lose my job, my house -- everything," he said.

Legal threat

Scottish Countryside Alliance director Allan Murray said the bill violated provisions in the European Convention on Human Rights protecting individuals against loss of their livelihood.

"It is quite obscene that the Scottish Parliament voted their fellow Scots out of their jobs and businesses without a penny of compensation, Murray said.

We believe this is a clear violation of the ECHR [European Human Rights Laws] and have instructed our lawyers to take the appropriate legal action, he added.

Animal rights activists and anti-hunt groups said they were pleased with the ban on hunting Scotland, which has a separate legal system from England and Wales, and they pushed for the central government to follow troop.

Failure to act would result in what Phyllis Campbell-McRae, spokeswoman for Campaigning to Protect Hunted Animals, said would be the "ridiculous situation of banned Scottish hunters crossing the border to carry out barbaric acts in England and Wales."

"It's what we've campaigned for over many years," another activist Mike Hobday of League Against Cruel Sports told AP.

"It's long been clear that the majority of people right across Britain are opposed to fox hunting and were absolutely delighted that the Scottish Parliament has been the first one to take this step.

"It gives a very clear signal to [UK Prime Minister] Tony Blair and the government that where Scotland leads, England should follow, Hobday said.

Blair is said to support efforts to outlaw using dogs in hunts, but killing foxes with guns would still be allowed under proposed legislation for England. Efforts to pass the proposed law in recent years have been delayed.

Hours before Wednesday's vote, hunt supporters set up several last-minute demonstrations and up to 1,000 people, 150 horses and packs of dogs from all over Scotland gathered at Kelso, on the Scottish side of the border with England, to stage a mass hunt.