Scotland is home to a wide range of wild animals, ranging from the majestic stag to the the tiny pipestrelle bat. There is a wide range of legislation in place to provide our special animals with the protection they deserve.

THE WILDLIFE AND COUNTRYSIDE ACT, 1981, AS AMENDED Y THE NATURE CONSERVATION (SCOTLAND) ACT, 2004

Under the new legislation anyone who intentionally or recklessly kills, injures or takes any wild animal fully protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act, or has in possession or control any live or dead wild animal included in that Schedule, will be guilty of an offence.

POLICE POWERS

A constable who suspects with reasonable cause that a person has committed or is committing an offence under the Wild Mammals Act may, without warrant,

• arrest that person,

• search that person, and search or examine any associated vehicle, animal or article if the constable suspects that evidence in connection with the offence is likely to be found,

• seize that evidence, including a vehicle or animal,

• enter land, other that a dwelling, to exercise the power to search.

THE PROTECTION OF WILD MAMMALS (SCOTLAND) ACT, 2002

Offences under this act are:

• to deliberately hunt a wild animal with a dog or dogs.

• for an owner or occupier of land knowingly to permit another person to deliberately hunt a wild animal with a dog or dogs on that land.

• for an owner of, or person having responsibility for, a dog knowingly to permit another person to use the dog to deliberately hunt a wild animal.
  
  (Rabbits and rodents are not included under the scope of this Act).

EXCEPTED ACTIVITIES

While the Act basically bans the use of dogs for fox hunting and hare coursing the following are some of the activities with dogs that are still legal:

• stalking or flushing targeted wild mammals, e.g. hares, from cover above ground provided they are then shot once it is safe to do so or killed with a bird of prey,

• flushing a fox or mink from below ground provided it is shot as soon as possible after it is flushed,

• retrieving a hare which has been shot, or under specific conditions, locating certain escaped wild mammals or a mammal which is believed to be injured or orphaned,

• by the use of a single dog, dispatching fox cubs below ground and believed to be orphaned.

THE WILD ANIMALS PROTECTION ACT, 1996

This Act gives protection to wild mammals and makes it an offence for any person to mutilate, kick, beat, nail or otherwise impale, stab, burn, stone, crush, drown, drag or asphyxiate any wild mammal with intent to inflict unnecessary suffering.

There is no offence if:

• the action occurs in the course of lawful shooting, hunting, coursing or pest control (including lawful use of snares, traps, dogs, poisons or falconry)

OR

• the action occurs during the attempted killing of any mammal seriously injured, other than by that person's prior illegal act, and there was no chance of the mammal recovering.

THE PROTECTION OF ANIMALS (SCOTLAND) ACT, 1912

Though this Act deals mainly with cruelty to domestic animals, it also includes cruelty to captive wild animals. Police have power to arrest offenders and to enter land without the permission of the owner to inspect animals suspected of being cruelly treated.