Anti-blood sports campaigners are celebrating as one of Scotland’s oldest fox hunts folded after 252 years.
The notorious Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Foxhounds group will shut down for good in the wake of new Scottish Government curbs on hunting.
And the group’s end - coming weeks after another group, Fife Foxhounds, disbanded - has been hailed as a “seismic” victory by animal rights campaigners and activist saboteurs.
New laws were passed earlier this year to clamp down on the practice and close previous loopholes in legislation.
It brings in a two-dog limit for hunting unless a special licence is sought and also prohibits trail hunting where dogs follow an animal-based scent.
Shortly after MSPs passed the Bill at Holyrood, it emerged Fife’s regional fox hunting group would be disbanded, citing “financial reasons”.
Now, the Houston-based Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Foxhounds - first established in 1771 - is following suit. Activists say it’s clearly linked to the strict new curbs.
In a statement, local anti-hunting campaigners the Glasgow Hunt Saboteurs said: “This seismic victory comes just a month after the Hunting with Dogs Scotland Bill was passed.
“Clearly the restrictions in place were not workable for the L&R hunt and as a result, the hunt have thrown in the towel.
“We are ecstatic beyond belief to see the demise of the L&R as our group and our predecessors Clydeside Hunt Sabs worked tirelessly for years bringing this hunt to their knees.”
Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Foxhounds, based just half an hour’s drive from Glasgow, held its last meet on Saturday, March 5, where it’s understood no animals were killed.
Sources say members were informed of the group’s imminent closure at a meet prior to that.
Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Foxhounds did not respond to repeated requests for comment over several weeks. A contact phone number on their website has also been disconnected.
In 2021, we revealed shocking images of a depraved huntsman with the group throwing a fox carcass to his hounds in front of stunned anti-hunt saboteurs.
Sick Conrad Jones taunted activists who were trying to protect the creature by tossing it to the dogs while being filmed and urging them to tear its body to pieces.
The tougher new Hunting with Dogs Act replaces a previous 2002 law which aimed to ban fox hunting but saw loopholes exploited by hunts.
Scottish SPCA chief superintendent, Mike Flynn, said, “Following the passing of the Hunting with Dogs Act, this is the second hunting group that has closed in recent weeks.
“Hunting for sport should be consigned to history and that is why we’ve long called for loopholes in Scotland’s hunting legislation to be addressed. This Act is a massive step in the right direction.
“We hope members of the group will ensure their hounds are looked after, or appropriately rehomed, even though they have disbanded.”
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